SideStriped
by CrazyCross213
Summary: I had to add my own character. Her name is Karissa Chime. Brigg's characters come in pretty quickly, so it is a fanfiction, but it's one that has its own story. Karissa is a vet, a very unusual one...because of that unusualness, the wolves want her..dead.
1. Chapter One

**N/A:** _ALLO, EVERYONE! I've been working on this one for a while, and I think it turned out pretty good! If no one reads it, I won't continue it, and if you don't **REVIEW** then I won't know you've read it!_  
**Karissa:** *bored voice* yes you would. You just have to check the traffic for this story.  
**CrazyCross:** Ahem! I was not aware of that (lie). Still... **REVIEW! I LIKE REVIEWS!**  
**Karissa:** Just be nice to me, and don't make my life complicated. I hate complications.  
**CrazyCross:** Uh... about that... *fidget*  
**Karissa:** ...You already made my life complicated, didn't you? Gee, what a great friend you are... *leaves*  
**CrazyCross:** *running after her* No, wait! If I made your life as simple as daisies or a bed of roses, it wouldn't be interesting! *looks back at nonexistent audience* Enjoy, **REVIEW! **

**CHAPTER ONE**

The barking was what woke me. I opened my eyes to the darkness of my bedroom and the warmth of my dog Keeper across my legs. The whole bed vibrated with the force of his growl. The barking didn't come from him, but from the kennels at the back of the house. I could hear each individual bark-Goliath the Great Dane's deep _woof;_ Chester the Beagle's yapping bark; Willow the Whippet's shrill yip. The most annoying was RaRa the Toy Poodle. That scrap of a dog was named for the distinct sound of her bark, which sounded (annoyingly) like _rah-rah-rah-rah-rah!_ It hurt my ears just to listen to it, and thanks to all the barking going on, I couldn't hear what had caused them to bark in the first place. I groaned as I dragged myself out from underneath Keeper and sat on the edge of my bed. I pulled on my house shoes and shuffled out of my room. Keeper followed, a near-silent shadow.

I went out to the kennels and growled at the dogs. They quieted down as they recognized me, their barks reduced to soft growls and snarls. Willow paced, her eyes and teeth glinting in the pale light of the full moon. I closed my eyes and listened, searching for what had so upset the dogs. They were normally well behaved, giving only a yap or two before going back to what they were doing. It must have been something big to rile them up so badly.

Keeper whined quietly, begging to be given the command to search out what threatened his mistress (me). I set my hand on his sleek head, calming him. I wouldn't send him until I knew what was out there. I froze as I caught the scent of wolf. At that exact moment, I heard the soft brush of paws against the grass. I dodged aside a heartbeat before those massive jaws would've closed on my arm.

I dove to the ground, rolled, and came up with my hands up and my fingers hooked into claws. With anyone else, this would've looked incredibly stupid and useless, but for me, it was how I defended myself. You see, I am not like normal thirty-two year-old women-I'm a werejackal.

I slashed at the wolf with my lengthened claws as it tried to attack me again. It yelped, surprised that I had fought back, and then gasped with pain as Keeper locked his jaws in its left hind leg. I slashed at it again, growling and showing my fangs. I couldn't see the wolf well in the darkness, but its fur was pale-maybe white or a light gray or brown. Its shoulder and face were dark with its own blood, the liquid gleaming in the moonlight. It backed up, shaking Keeper off its leg. With a glare at me, it turned and fled. Keeper made as if to go after it, but came to me when I snapped my fingers.

I pointed to the kennels, "Keeper, guard," I commanded. He padded over to the cages and stood with his silky-furred ears alert. I studied his perfect profile, tinged with silver by the moonlight. He was the ideal representation of the Saluki breed, a type of dog that originated in Persia and the other Middle East countries. I had found Keeper injured and near death in the woods behind my first house back in North Carolina. I'd nursed him back to health, and when no one had claimed him, I claimed him as mine. When I had moved to Tennessee, I had brought him with me. He had been my loyal companion ever since.

I dragged myself from my memories and went into the house to get my shotgun. It was loaded with silver bullets-you can never be too careful. I came back outside and sat next to Keeper, who sank down next to me. He set his slender head on his paws and heaved a huge sigh. I stroked his head and kept my ears perked, so to speak. The dog in the kennel I was sitting in front of came to lick my arm through the bars of the cage. It was Chester, the Beagle. He whined, still worried about the wolf. I stroked his muzzle and scratched him between the eyes.

"Calm, little boy. I won't let the big bad wolf get ya," I soothed him. He flopped down next to the wall of the cage near me. I felt his fur brush against my back. I could hear the other dogs settling down to sleep, calm now that I was here. I stayed there until the sun rose, just in case the wolf came back. Keeper went to sleep, obviously not worried about the wolf returning. Not sharing his confidence in that matter, I was still sitting outside the kennels at 6:30 in the morning. The sun was barely visible through the trees when I staggered to my feet and tottered inside. I left Keeper to guard the dogs, knowing that he would alert me if anything happened.

I went back to my room, got dressed, and went into the bathroom. I washed my face and brushed my teeth, getting rid of sleepy breath. When I finished, I stared at myself in the mirror. The woman in it stared back. I took a moment to study myself.

I had dark, dusky brown skin and inky black, baby fine hair that rippled over my shoulders. My left eye was dark brown, almost black. The right was pale, icy blue. Very creepy at first, but people got used to it. My face was angular, foreign. Of course, I was half Egyptian, on my mother's side.

My mother had been an immigrant from Egypt, and only sixteen when she had me. When I was three months old, she gave me to an orphanage. She told the orphanage workers that my father had been a white man with blue eyes-thus the two different eye colors. My mother had barely known any English and had been staying with a few friends in the mountains. Two weeks after she left me at the orphanage, she was found dead, supposedly mauled by a bear. The orphanage raised me until I was three, when a young couple whose last name was Chime adopted me. William and Mary Chime took me in and named me Karissa. Karissa Chime.

They loved me and cared for me, even when they found out I could turn into a jackal (technically, a Side-striped Jackal). They kept my secret from everyone and treated me like their own child. But then it all changed. See, the reason they had adopted me is because the doctor said it was unlikely that they would ever have children. Too bad (for the doctor) that two and a half years later, Tawni was born.

Tawni had William's blond hair and green eyes. She was adorable from her very first day, charming everyone in the maternity ward. While I repelled, she attracted-whether it was parents or boys. The only thing I was better at was school. Well, school and animals. Tawni, by the time she was in middle school, hated me with a passion I don't think I deserved. But that was after the other two were born.

Next (a year after Tawni) came Aaron. He had Mary's black hair and chocolate brown eyes. He was my favorite, my adorable little brother. He never shied away from my eyes or my ability to turn into an animal, not like the other two always did. He was my minion, my partner in crime. If something in the house was broken, it was me and Aaron. Tawni was jealous of our easy companionship and the third sibling just hated to be associated with me.

The third sibling (man, was that doctor screwy) was also a girl. They named her Patricia. She had a frosty kind of beauty-still beautiful, but without the cuteness or the cheerfulness to make her likable. She had the same blond hair as Tawni and pale, golden-brown eyes. She was tall and slender, more willowy than Tawni. She never accepted me, and would have told everyone about my secret, if it hadn't been for her worrying about what others would think-about her, not me. She was self-centered, her personality so cold it had icicles growing on it at an alarming rate (har har). She was the main reason I got out of that house as fast as I could. She may have been four years my junior, but you'd be surprised at how mean kids are nowadays.

While William and Mary never snubbed me, they spent most of their time with their kids. I only got in the way, so I mostly kept to my room or stayed out of the house altogether. My only friends were Keeper, the other animals I cared for, and Aaron. Aaron kept me sane. When I needed to rant about something, he was there. Boy problems? He listened, even beat up the guy in question if I wanted him to. A bad grade got me depressed? He showed me his own grades. It made me feel much better. In return, I helped him with homework and gave him advice about girls (learned from listening in on Tawni, the little cheerleader). I loved my little brother, and it hurt me to leave him in that house. By the time I left, he was a junior in high school. I haven't seen him since I left, but I chat with him on the phone and the Internet. We've even written letters. I send him pictures of my new friends (and the occasional boyfriend) and he sends me pics of Tawni with gum in her hair (put in there by my adopted niece, Tawni's little brat). He's the only thing I miss about North Carolina.

When I left, I moved to Knoxville, Tennessee. I had been accepted at the University of Tennessee. I went there for six years before I graduated. After that, I worked at a veterinary clinic for three years. Fully licensed as a veterinary doctor, I opened my own clinic. It has been going well for five years now, six in the fall. I had only a few people working for me, close friends. They kept it interesting.

That reminded me... I dragged myself from my musings and ran a hairbrush through the bird's nest I call my hair. I never put on any make-up-the animals didn't care. I took a deep breath and went out to my car. I would leave Keeper with the dogs although it wasn't likely for the wolf to come back in the daytime. It would just make me feel better. I drove from my house in the county into the city. The traffic was a little bad at this time in the morning, when everyone was going to work. At exactly 7 o'clock, I pulled into the parking lot of Wind Chime Animal Clinic. I unlocked the back door and went into my office. Time for me to check on the animals we were keeping for observation.

First came the kitten who had broken his paw falling (or jumping? He was very adventurous) off the roof of his owner's house. He mewed at me, his adorable blue eyes begging for me to let him out and explore the clinic. I stuck my finger into his cage and let him chew on me. He kept up a rumbling purr the entire time.

"You'll be going home today, Coal," I told him fondly. What a little rascal. I moved on to the dog, a Yorkshire Terrier. Hers had been a routine procedure. I had only kept her to make sure that the incision didn't get infected. She would be going home as well. I let her lick me a bit before moving on to the next animal, an old black cat that had been hit by a car. He was lying at the back of his cage, his body limp and his eyes dull with pain.

"You doin all right in there, Furrball?" I asked, sniffing at his cage. It didn't smell of anything but cat and the medicine I had put on his wounds. Most of his injuries had been broken or crushed bones. Those were healing, but he lacked the will to even try moving around. He would stay with us a while longer until I was satisfied with his progress. I got fresh water for them all and gave them more food. For Furrball, this meant hand-feeding. I got enough food down him and then went to wash my hands. When I went back to check the schedule for the day, my veterinary assistant bounced in.

When I say "bounce," I do literally mean _bounce._ Cheyenne Hall is probably the most bouncy, cheerful person I know. She's small and rounded, a people person. She has round cheeks and twinkling blue eyes like sapphires. I've never seen her frown unless someone was dying. When that happens, she cries like a baby, no matter if she knew the person well or not. Everyone likes Cheyenne, and Cheyenne likes everyone. She was good with people and animals, and she knew how to deal with both of them.

I grunted a reply to her hyper "Good morning!" I collapsed in my office chair, shuffling through the papers on my desk.

"How's Furrball doing?" she asked, peering over my shoulder to see what I was doing. I frowned and set the papers down.

"I don't know why he's so listless. I do everything I know to do to keep him interested in life, but he just ignores me. Sure, he's _healing _fine, but even if his body's perfectly healed, it won't do him any good if he _doesn't care!"_ I exclaimed, baring my teeth. Cheyenne nodded sadly, her smile smaller but not gone.

"You'll think of something-you always do," she said confidently, bouncing over to her desk. I ignored her and resumed checking my schedule.

"What are we doing today?" she asked after a moment.

"First off is a neutering at 8:30, and after that is a couple of regular checkups with annual vaccines. Patches at 10:25 and TabbyCat at 11:50. After our lunch break is another neutering-this one at 2:30," I flipped the paper over and looked on the back, "That's all for today, but tomorrow's going to be busy."

Cheyenne made a noncommittal noise and started doing paperwork. Have I mentioned I love Cheyenne? She's the only one of my employees who will willingly do paperwork-hers and everyone else's. I smiled at her and turned to look at the back door as I heard a familiar car pull up. I hopped out of my seat and went to stand at the top of the wooden stairs leading to the back door.

"The old girl actually started up this morning, Mark?" I called to the lanky teen getting out of the old, rusty Honda.

"Ha ha, very funny, Kare!" he called back, slamming the car door. He had to, because that was the only way it would close. His car only started on about three out of seven mornings; today must've been a good day.

Mark Abernathy is a tall, skinny eighteen year old with a mop of curly, red-gold hair and a whole mess of freckles. He works at the clinic as my minion/errand boy/pooper-scooper/janitor/dog walker. I've known him since he was five-in fact, he was the first person I ever met in Knoxville.

It was when I was just moving into my new house. Keeper and I were carrying the last of our luggage into the house when I heard a loud _crack_ from the back yard. I rushed out there to see what had happened when I looked up into a giant oak tree to see this tiny redheaded kid pretty high up. He'd just broken a branch and was hanging by his hands alone. I hadn't spotted him but for a heart beat before his grip slipped and he fell. I was already running forward before he hit the ground. I stopped next to him, grimacing at the awkward angle his leg was bent at. I noticed the welling blood beneath his head.

"You alive, kid?" I asked him softly, knowing already that he was still living and breathing. I have good ears.

He groaned, "Mooom..." he whimpered, his eyes squeezed shut.

I looked at the house that he had been playing behind-my neighbor's house. I went to the back door and knocked. The woman who came to the door was only a few years older than me and had long, copper-colored curls and bright green eyes. I saw Ireland in her face. This must be the boy's mother.

"Ma'am, your son is hurt!" I growled, "Call the ambulance while I try to stop the bleeding!"

Yeah, looking back on that conversation, I can admit that I wasn't good with people. I'm still not.

"WHAT?" she screeched, grabbing the doorframe. She stared at me, "Who are you?"

I'd frowned at her, "I'm your new neighbor."

Ah, first impressions.

I ended up riding in the ambulance with little Mark, whose leg was broken in two places; he also had a deep cut on the back of his head (from where he'd landed on a rock). His mother had to go pick up her daughter (and Mark's older sister) from school, so I got stuck with taking him to the hospital. I didn't mind, so much-I had nothing better to do. So I told Keeper to watch the house and hopped in the back of the ambulance. I ended up having to hold him still while they set his leg. Afterwards, I stayed with him and told him funny stories to keep him occupied while they stitched up his head. When his mom got there, I got up to leave but was stopped by his hand grabbing my sleeve. And so my first best friend in this new place was made. After that, we were inseparable. If I didn't have Mark on my shoulders, he had his arms wrapped around one of my legs and was hanging on for the ride. We did everything together, and when he grew up (A.K.A. turned eighteen), he started working for me. So here we were. End flashback.

"I don't have anything for you to do around here. Will you hop back in that clunker and go get me some breakfast? I was a little pressed for time this mornin," I asked him, leaning casually on the wall next to the door.

He gave a dramatic sigh, "Really? I have to try to get it to start again?"

I grinned at him, "Of course, you could always take my car. If you ding up my car at all, though, I'll kill you with a smile on my face."

"I believe you!" he laughed, holding up his hand, "Keys?" when I tossed them to him, he asked, "Cheyenne and Melissa want anything?"

"Missy's not here, but I'll ask Cheyenne," I said before sticking my head back inside, "Hey, Cheyenne! You eat breakfast this morning?"

"Yeah, cuz I'm a morning person, unlike some people," she drawled, flopping around in her reclinable chair.

I growled at her and turned back to Mark, "She says she doesn't want anything. Ever. Never bring her any food again, no matter how much she begs."

I could hear her from inside, "Now wait just a minute-!" I gave a burst of evil laughter, just as my final employee, Melissa Everhart, drove up. She jumped out of her car seconds after it had stopped moving and took the stairs two at a time to tackle-hug me. That was when the excited girlish squealing started. Oh, I wasn't the one squealing. That sound is beneath my dignity.

"What the hell is the matter with you?" I growled, grabbing her shoulders.

"I'm getting married!" she screamed, bouncing up and down, her short brown hair flying all over the place. "I'M GETTING MARRIED!"

My ears were ringing as Mark joined us at the top of the stairs, "For real?" he exclaimed. Cheyenne burst out of the back door, screaming, "No way, no way, NO WAY!" By this time, I was fairly sure my ears were bleeding.

"Dear Lord in Heaven, Melissa!" I shouted, "Stop screaming!"

Then the waterworks started. First Cheyenne started to cry, and then Melissa had to start. Mark went down those stairs faster than I believed possible, "I'm gonna go get your breakfast, Kare! Congrats, Melissa!"

Smart boy. Lucky boy, to be able to get out of the middle of the two crying women. I tried to get away, but they grabbed me in a group hug and kept me there against my will. I could hear the sound of Mark peeling out of the parking lot in my car. Stupid boy. He'd better not ruin my tires.

"Karissa, you just _have_ to be my maid of honor!" Melissa was screaming/sobbing. I jerked with surprise.

"What?" I exclaimed, "You want me to be _what?"_

"And Cheyenne," she continued, ignoring me, "you have to be a bridesmaid!"

"Oh, dear!" Cheyenne garbled through her tears of joy, "You've made me so happy!" thus ensued more crying and laughing, sure signs of insanity.

I tried to return this to order, "Who's the guy?" I asked, "That man you've been seeing for the last while? What was his name? Derek?"

She bobbed her head in a nod, "Yes, Derek Hendrick, love of my life!" she cried dramatically. I gave a disgusted grimace.

"He's the luckiest man in the world!" Cheyenne told her, giving her another hug.

"Um, excuse me? Sparky's here for his appointment? Am I late?" came a voice from behind us. I turned to see a lady holding a leash connected to a dog that, despite barely being out of puppyhood, was _huge._

The dog-Sparky-growled at me. I bared my teeth at him in a smile-or, at leas it would look that way to the woman, "No, ma'am, you're right on time. I'll walk with you around to the front, if you don't mind." I practically jumped down the steps to join her. I gave Sparky a scratch behind his ears and led her around the side of the building.

"Was I interrupting something?" she asked worriedly.

"On the contrary, you just saved me from about ten more bone-crushing group hugs and more squealing," I told her joyfully, a spring in my step. "I'd much rather deal with animals than newly engaged women and their weepy friends."

The woman laughed, "I know how you feel. I'd much rather be around animals too."

We only had three emergencies that day, and none of them were fatal. That was a good day, in my book. And we only had two more outbursts of tears-even better. Several people came in to get medicine for their pets, and one person brought in some kittens that someone had dumped in their driveway. I cleaned them up and let them run around behind the counter. One climbed up Mark's back and made us all crack up. Mark looked up from where he was cuddling that one, his eyes pleading.

"Can I keep it?" he whimpered pitifully, giving me the puppy-dog eyes.

I raised my hands in a defensive pose, "That's not my call, Mark. You'll have to ask your mom about that."

He pouted, "She'll say no."

I shrugged, turning to a customer, "That's your problem. May I help you, sir?" I frowned at the man. He looked familiar.

"I'm here to pick up Melissa," he told me, peering behind me to smile at the kittens.

"You're Derek, right?" I asked. I swear, you could probably see a light bulb pop up over my head.

"That's right," he said, turning his smile to me, "You must be Karissa. Missy's told me a lot about you."

"Good things, I hope," I mock-growled at Melissa as she came out of the back room. She squealed when she saw Derek and tackle-hugged him. I grinned, "Take off, you two, and take the lovey-doveyness somewhere besides my clinic."

"Bye, Kare! I'll see you tomorrow!" Missy called over her shoulder as she left, hand in hand with her fiancee.

Cheyenne sighed, "Oh, to be young and in love..."

"You're younger than me, old woman," I grumbled, picking a kitten up out of my seat before I could sit down.

"It's not fair, though! You look like you're twenty! I look... middle-aged..." she shuddered. I laughed again, even though I knew she was right-at least about me.

I hadn't aged since I turned twenty-one. Oh, sure, I kept counting the years so I knew how old I really was, but I was pretty sure I was going to be twenty-one forever. Cheyenne didn't need to know that, though.

"You look like you're thirty, which you are. Now stop complaining and go home."

She snapped a salute, "Yes'm! Going home," she hopped up, grabbed her bag (she had to get a kitten out of it) and went out to her car. Mark followed her, setting down his kitten before he opened the back door.

"I hope my car starts," he muttered.

"I'll keep my fingers crossed, but don't get your hopes too high up," I told him. He finished my familiar saying.

"I know, I know... If I don't get my hopes too high up, they won't have far to fall," he grinned at me before closing the door, "As if I haven't heard that a thousand times."

"Insolent pup," I muttered, stroking the kitten I held, "Can you believe him? Talking back to his elders like that."

"Mew?" the kitten squeaked, digging its little claws into my pants leg. I grinned at the little ball of fluff, "I guess you guys are coming home with me. I hope you don't mind dogs."

"Mew!"

The wolf didn't come back that night, which was probably a good thing, seeing as I couldn't have stayed awake for more than a few minutes after I got home. I put the dogs up, fed and watered them, and locked the kittens in my washroom (pronounced "warshroom" in this part of Tennessee). The washroom had linoleum floors, which was definitely preferable to the carpet in the rest of the house. The kitties complained as I left them by themselves, but I ignored their pitiful cries. I have a hard heart.

Or maybe not. Keeper liked his new companions, and when I left them locked up, he turned his puppy-dog eyes to me. While I had stood firm before Mark's puppy look and the kittens' cries, I have never been able to refuse Keeper anything. I groaned and went back to the washroom.

"Okay, but only one! You hear me?" I growled. Keeper frisked along beside me as I went back to get one of the kittens.

It is a sign of how perfect his puppy-dog look is that I ended up sleeping with all five kittens that night, tucked into various curves and crooks of my body.

For the next two months, everything went as usual. Furrball healed wonderfully, going home to his family as spunky as he was before he got hit by the car. Amazingly, no animals had to be put down or were killed or died of their injuries during those two months. It wasn't until the third month, August, that something bad happened.

It all started out normally. In fact, it was normal until the very end of my workday. I had just finished removing the rest of a cat's tail. His owners had removed most of it themselves when the cat's tail was nearly severed by getting closed in a heavy door. The wound had gotten infected, though, so it was up to me to remove the diseased part of the tail and disinfect it properly. I ranted at the stupid owners and told them I was keeping their cat for the next couple of days to make sure it was healing okay. They were at least worried for their cat, so I didn't kick them (physically) out of my clinic. I kept my anger in check, merely glaring at their car as they pulled out of my parking lot. Cheyenne and Melissa had already left for the day, and Mark was heading out the door when a car screeched to a stop in my parking lot. Two big, brawny men jumped out and ran to the back of the car. I watched with fascinated horror as they got the pale wolf (I now saw that he was the color of a golden retriever) that had attacked me out of the trunk of the SUV. The wolf was bleeding horribly and unconscious as they carried it up the front steps and kicked the door in. I was up on top of the main counter, my hackles up and my teeth bared.

"What is the meaning of this?" I growled, keeping my voice low. I kept Mark behind me, protecting him with my body.

"We need your help, ma'am," one man growled back. His blue eyes were sincere as he looked up at me, "He's hurt real bad. Can you help him?"

I reluctantly turned to look at the wolf. He was riddled with bullet holes; I was shocked that he still lived. My ears didn't lie, though-I could hear the labored beating of his heart and the soft rasp of his breath. Despite the fact that he had threatened my dogs (and me), I couldn't leave an animal in pain. I motioned the men back to the room where I did all the major surgeries. I snapped out directions to Mark, which instruments I needed, where to put them, and such. He was quick in getting what I wanted, not questioning the fact that the creature on my table was no normal dog. It was a werewolf.

Mark knew what I was, and I'd told him (for his own safety) that there was more in the world than he would ever know. Werewolves were one of those things. I hadn't met any in this city, but that didn't mean they weren't here. I'd known a few of them back in North Carolina, but they'd mostly left me alone. I was pretty sure that was because none of them had ever smelled a jackal before-my kind is not very common in the United States. I wondered why these wolves (for they were all werewolves, even the ones in human form) had brought this injured one to me. Did they know that I was a werejackal?

I was drawn from my musings as the injured wolf woke with a vengeance. He caught me with one of his sharp claws before I realized he was conscious again. I growled and leaned over him, my teeth bared, "Stupid wolf," I snarled viciously, "I'm stronger than you right now. Listen to me. _Lie down and __**stay still**_."

He immediately subsided, lying perfectly still. The other wolves stared at me in shock. I ignored them and set to work removing the bullets from the wolf. None of them were silver, but they were all very painful. I should know-I've had my fair share of gunshot wounds (you'd be surprised how much a jackal looks like a coyote when it's an angry farmer doing the shooting). Once I had all the bullets out (there were ten of them), I started disinfecting the wounds. He whimpered in pain, the first sound he'd made. I felt sorry for him, but sorry heals no wounds. Once I had everything as clean as I could get it, I stitched up the wounds that needed it and bandaged the ones that didn't. I turned to the men who'd brought him in.

"_Now _will you tell me what happened?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.

The taller man answered, "I'm sorry, ma'am, but I can't. Thanks for helping the Boss, though."

I sent the wolf on my table a speculative look, "So he's the Alpha, huh? Then tell me, why exactly was the Alpha of your pack running around as a wolf. Behind my house. Terrorizing my dogs, to boot." With each word, I glared harder at the wolf. He kept his eyes closed and his head on his paws-the perfect innocent look.

The man who had answered me rubbed the back of his neck, "I don't rightly know, ma'am. I'm sure he had a reason."

I snorted, "Right. Well, now that I've patched the holes someone else put in him, get him out of my clinic."

The man nodded. He looked at the other before they both moved to lift the wolf. He didn't make a noise as they carried him out of my clinic. I watched them leave and then turned to stare sorrowfully at my broken door. They hadn't even paid me.

"Well, shoot," Mark whistled, "What _was_ that?"

I cursed the wolves again before turning to answer him, "Those were werewolves. The holy one paid me a visit a month or two ago, the night before Missy got engaged. I scared him off, and he hasn't been by since then. I wonder who he pissed off?" I kicked the broken pieces of my door, "Stupid wolves. You owe me a new door!" I yelled after their retreating vehicle.

Mark smirked at me, "What are we gonna do about it?" he asked, amused about something.

I glared at him, "_You _are going to my house to take care of my animals while _I_ stay here and guard the shop." Without another word, I turned and went to the bathroom to strip and shift. When I scratched on the door, Mark let me out. I padded into the waiting area of the clinic, shaking to settle my fur. Mark scratched me behind the ears and left.

With a low growl, I curled up on the floor in front of the door. I was glad the nights were still fairly warm. It wouldn't be like that for too much longer. I yawned: taking care of a werewolf really takes a lot out of ya. With a big sigh, I relaxed and went to sleep. It didn't last long, though. Right in the middle of my dream of chasing a squirrel, I woke to the sound of a car pulling into my parking lot. I rose to my paws, the fur along my spine standing up and my tail fluffed out to twice its normal size. I peeled my lips back from my teeth to expose my impressive fangs as a werewolf in human form got out of the Chevy Silverado and carried a brand-spankin' new door up to my front entrance. I stopped growling at the sight of the shiny new door.

The man laughed, "Happy to see this, eh, girly?" he grinned at me. I yipped, spinning around as if chasing my tail. Boy, was I ever so happy to see a door. Especially one I hadn't had to pay for.

I tipped my head to the side curiously. Why were the wolves replacing my door so quickly? I had expected I'd have to sniff them out and annoy them until they paid for a new door. The man answered me.

"Boss told us you were open tomorrow too, even though it's Saturday. Told me I'd need to come fix it tonight or early tomorrow morning, before you opened up," he scratched his beard, "I'm not a morning person, so I thought I might as well get it done tonight. That work for you?"

I hopped up and down, tail awag. He took that for a yes and started working. I watched avidly as he removed the last bits of my old door and fixed the bent hinges. The werewolves had really done a number on my door. The werewolf who was fixing my door introduced himself as Hank, and outlined all of what he was doing, which screw he was using for my new hinges, the type of wood this door was made of, that sort of thing. I think he did this because, in my current form, I can't make any more noise than a yip or a howl. It was kind of a one-sided conversation.

"What kind of canine are you, anyway?" he asked me at one point. I turned to the side and licked my vivid black and white stripe down my side. He frowned, "You ain't a coyote... Not a fox either..."

_Jackal! Side-striped Jackal, you fool!_ I wanted to howl at him. I sent him a cold stare and pointedly turned my back on him. I wasn't going to change just so I could tell him what type of animal I was. If he was too stupid to know, well, he could just go Google me. He laughed at me and finished up the door.

"Well, that's done," he sighed, wiping his brow. "I'll be seeing you later, girly."

Girly? Was that my nickname now? Oh well... I lifted a paw and half-waved at him. He laughed again and hopped in his truck. He honked once as he pulled out of the parking lot. I snorted before going back to the bathroom (where I left my clothes) and changing back to human. I dragged on my clothes and locked up my new door before getting in my car and driving away.

I pulled into my driveway and parked my car, locking it before stumbling into the house. I smiled to see Mark asleep on my couch with Keeper on his feet and the two kittens I had kept curled up on his chest and head. Mark was snoring softly, both the kittens (whose names were Butterfly and Raven) twitching in kitten dreams, and Keeper's paws moving in running motions. I had to cover my mouth to keep from laughing. It was a very comical sight.

I snuck past them and into my room. I got into my PJs and curled up on my bed to go to sleep. I didn't have to worry about the dogs-Mark knew his way around my kennels. There were new dogs in my kennels now, not the same dogs as when the wolf had come by the first time. I could hear them snoring, just like everyone else in the house. I grinned to myself as I drifted off.

The next morning, I woke up at my usual time (6:00) and went to wake up Mark and the others. Mark had shifted during the night; now, he was laying on his belly with one kitten draped over the back of his neck and another one in the small of his back. He had kicked Keeper off sometime while he was rolling over, and Keeper hadn't come back. I found him in the kitchen, curled up on the rug by the sink. He opened one chocolate brown eye and thumped his thin tail when he saw me. I smiled at him before going out to see to the dogs. He didn't follow.

All the dogs were fine. I fed them, watered them, and let them out into the front yard. They were still a little sluggish from sleep, but they started playing, chasing each other with happy barks. I smiled at them before heading back inside the house. Just as I came in, the phone rang. I glared at the shrilling contraption.

"What now?" I muttered, stomping over to pick up the phone. "Hello?" I growled.

I was met with sobbing. I couldn't recognize it at first, but then I heard a familiar hiccup in the midst of the sobbing. I frowned.

"Tawni?" I asked, "Tawni? What's wrong?"

"Ka-Karissa! Aaron's... Aaron's missing!" she choked. I dropped the phone. I could still hear her sobbing as I scrambled to pick up the phone again.

"_What?"_ I snarled, "Aaron's missing?" I heard Mark yawn, then yelp as the cats dug their claws into him. It would've been funny if I hadn't been about to cry, "How long has he been missing?" I asked.

"Thr-three days..." she mumbled, still crying.

I growled louder, "Why didn't you call me?" I could almost feel her flinch.

"I-I didn't think..." she stuttered.

I ignored this, merely muttering, "I'll be there by this evening." I hung up.

"Your brother's gone missing?" Mark asked, worry in his voice and in his eyes. He held the kitten he called his close to his face, snuggling into the soft fur. I nodded.

"I'm leaving now. Have Cheyenne call and reschedule all the appointments today. We didn't have anything big today anyways," as I spoke, I went through my room, shoving everything into a bag that I could carry with me. Keeper had gotten up from his rug and was following me around, picking up things I dropped in my haste. Mark was using my phone to call Cheyenne, who had been awake for an hour and a half now. They would take care of everything; I could go to find my brother and not worry about anything. I loved my people. I looked down at Keeper, who held my toothbrush gingerly in his mouth. I loved my animals, too.

Mark looked up from where he was talking with Cheyenne to give me a concerned look, "Cheyenne says to be careful, and tell your mother 'hi' for her," he told me. "I'll take care of the dogs, and Cheyenne and Missy'll watch the clinic, so just go. If anyone can find him, you can."

I smiled at him, tears welling in my eyes. I hugged him, "Thank you." I called louder for Cheyenne to hear, "Thanks, Cheyenne!" I heard muffled sobs and choked words that may have sounded like, "Welcome." Or maybe "Delsum." I don't know.

I ran outside, Keeper with me. I would have told him to stay and take care of the dogs, but I doubted the werewolves would bother my place again. At least for a while. So Keeper hopped into the passenger side when I held the door open for him. I waved at Mark before getting in and starting the car. We peeled out of my driveway and kept going at a good clip down the road. I wouldn't speed (at least not too badly) only because I might get pulled over and then it would take me longer to get there. I was going to find my brother, and I was going to find him as soon as possible.

I was going back to North Carolina.

**CrazyCross:** DUN DUN DUUUUN! XD Did ya like it? Remember, I'm not writing any more unless I get at least **5 reviews!**  
**Karissa:** ...You already wrote three more chapters before you even put this one up.  
**CrazyCross:** *clutches chest in pain* You're mad at me for being mean and giving you a tortured past, aren't you? T.T  
**Karissa: ***ignores* Remember to **REVIEW**, so that she can make my life fun and uncomplicated again. *turns to CrazyCross* Hey, am I going to get a boyfriend?  
**CrazyCross:** *in a singsong voice* Maaaaaybeee... ~


	2. Chapter Two

_**N/A:** Hello hello! Welcome, everyone, to the second chapter of Side-Striped! A wonderful chapter filled with action, drama, and humor! (the romance comes in later, if people listen to me and REVIEW!) Yet again, I am not going to post another chapter until I get **5 MORE REVIEWS!** Y'all were so nice before, giving me those **REVIEWS!** I loved all of them, even the critical ones! If you see something that I should fix (such as grammar or spelling), feel free to tell me! Tell me what you think, even if it's the cold hard truth that might crush my fragile pride! It's okay! I can take it!_  
**Karissa:** No you can't. You're a wimp *filing her nails*  
**CrazyCross:** Ouch! That stung! Too bad for you, I'm not easily offended! Remember, sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will-  
**Karissa:** -Always hurt you and cause you to curl up in a ball on the other side of your bed, clutching your stuffed cat Crystal that used to be white but isn't anymore.  
**CrazyCross:** ...Sometimes I hate you.  
**Karissa:** *evil laugh* I told you I'd have my revenge.  
**CrazyCross:** ...Anywho! Let's get on with the show! Some of Briggs characters are in this one, so I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THESE CHARACTERS BUT MY OWN! NO SUING!  
**Karissa:** And remember! **5 MORE REVIEWS**, or no third chapter from the idiot author!

**CHAPTER TWO**

I slowed when I came to the old house. There were several cars outside, new cars I didn't recognize. That wasn't saying much. I had been away from home for more than 14 years. Some people were sure to be new to me. I had a shocking thought: I wondered if Patricia were married. I wondered if she had _kids._ I shuddered at the thought and got out of the car. Keeper jumped out after me, stretching his long legs. He gave a soft _woof,_ looking around at the place he had lived at years ago. That made me look at him. He didn't show a year of his (at least) 16 years of age. There wasn't a gray hair on his muzzle. We were two peas in a pod, my dog and I. My thoughts were interrupted as the front door of the house flew open and a slender woman stood there, her blond hair and make-up a mess. I easily recognized her, despite the years I'd been gone.

"Kare!" she cried, running down the steps to throw her arms around me. I froze, my mind going blank with confusion. Why was Tawni hugging me? She had always hated me, though not as much as Patricia. Three kids, all of varying ages, poked their heads out the door after her. An older boy, maybe in his mid-teens, came up behind them.

"Who is that, mom?" he asked. I noticed he had Tawni's perfect blond hair and blue eyes. He looked nicer than she had, though. He sent me a shy smile and came outside to let Keeper smell him. He was stroking Keeper's soft, silky ears after a few moments.

"This is your aunt, Luke," Tawni sniffed, pulling away from me. She beckoned to the other three kids, "Come meet your Aunt Karissa."

The three kids slowly crept out of the house, staring at my face. I knew they were wondering why I didn't look like them, why my eyes were so weird. The oldest of these three was probably ten, the next eight, and the littlest one most likely just five or six. Tawni had been busy (cough cough).

Tawni introduced them to me, "Luke is my oldest. He's thirteen. Terri's ten, Timothy's seven, and Poppy's five," two boys and two girls. Little Poppy had her thumb in her mouth, peeking at Keeper from behind Luke. They were all blond-haired and blue-eyed, all gorgeous. Terri regarded me with the same expression Tawni had always used. How wonderful-a little cheerleader in the making. Timothy seemed bored, while Luke was obviously wondering why he'd never met me before, if I was his aunt. I wondered if Tawni had told them about me. Probably not.

"How's Mom and Dad doing?" I asked quietly, glancing past her to the open door. I could hear a baby crying inside. I wonder if Tawni had a little one.

"Come inside and see," she grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the porch. "They've missed you. I don't understand why you never come and visit."

Oh, wonder why? As soon as we stepped inside, a frostily beautiful woman stuck her head around the wall that led down the hall. She had a baby in her arms. Her golden eyes were curious. She hadn't spotted me yet.

"Who was it...?" Patricia trailed off when she locked eyes with me. Her head whipped around to glare at Tawni, "You _called_ her?" she hissed.

I left them to fight it out. The kids followed me into the living room where Mom and Dad were sitting. They had aged, wrinkles on their faces where once the skin had been smooth. Dad was going bald, but not badly. I doubted he would ever be completely bald. Mom had silver at the temples and streaked throughout her black hair. Her eyes and nose were red from crying. She looked up, wondering what Patricia was yelling about (most likely) and spotted me. Her jaw dropped, and fresh tears filled her eyes. Dad looked up too, and he was likewise shocked at the sight of me.

"Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad," I mumbled, looking down at my feet.

"Ka...Karissa?" Dad gasped, jumping to his feet. He strode over to me and wrapped his arms around me, "My little girl, you haven't changed since you left!" he exclaimed. Mom joined him a moment later, wrapping her slender arms around me and her husband.

"Kare! Kare! Little jackal!" she sobbed, "You've come home!"

"Take me to where Aaron was last seen," I told them, uncomfortable with all the crying and caring. I patted both of their shoulders and gently extracted myself from my parents' holds.

They understood why I wanted to go to where Aaron had been last. I had an excellent nose, especially when I was in Jackal form. I could be able to tell what had happened to Aaron, or at least who had been around when it had happened. My parents stepped back and nodded in synchronization.

"The police said they asked around, and the last place anyone saw him was out on his usual jog around his neighborhood. He took his dog, Guardian, and he's missing too," my dad told me, sitting back down on the couch. Mom sat beside him.

"We'd drive you over there, but we don't want to leave the house in case the police call," she said apologetically. "I'll have one of the girls take you, or their husbands."

I frowned, "Better send me with Tawni. 'Tricia shouldn't leave her little one."

Mom nodded sadly, knowing exactly what I meant, "Tawni!" she called, "Could you take Karissa over to Aaron's house?"

Tawni came into the room, an upset Patricia behind her. Both of their husbands, drawn by their (rather loud) argument, following them. Tawni nodded, giving me a sad smile. Patricia glared. The husbands were staring at me curiously, Patricia's husband devouring me with his gaze. I frowned, turning away from them. I looked at the kids and had to smile. While I had been busy, Keeper had won the hearts of all the kids, even Terri, who struck me as a girly girl who hated to get fur on her clothes. I patted my thigh quietly, and Keeper left the kids with a few sloppy licks before coming to stand by me. I buried my hands in his fur to calm myself. He pressed against my legs.

"I'll take her there," she told Mom, "Just let me get my keys..."

"I have them, honey," her husband told her, "I'll take her. You stay here with the kids and your parents. Call me on my cell if you hear anything else."

Tawni nodded, gazing lovingly at her husband. I smiled at them, "I'm ready to go when you are," I told him.

I took Keeper with me. While I had a better nose than him, it was only by a little bit. He was better at following a single scent out of many, while I had some problems with guys who wore cologne. It confused my nose. I was ruminating over something the entire ride to Aaron's two story bachelor pad. When we got there and he had parked his car, I turned to face him. He had introduced himself to me as Eric Black. He had honey-gold hair instead of just blond, and green eyes. He was a tall man with lean muscles and a friendly smile. I knew he loved Tawni, and she loved him. She was a better person for it. I had to trust him.

"Has Tawni told you about me?" I asked.

He shook his head, "Just that you were adopted before any of them were born and that you left home right after you graduated from high school. Moved to Tennessee, right?"

I nodded, "That's mostly it about me, except that I inherited something from my mother-my birth mother. See, she was full-blooded Egyptian, and my father was a white man, but my mother had one other ability, or so I suspect."

He looked curious, "What?"

I sighed, "Stay in the car. I'll show you." I started to get out and paused, "You don't have a gun in here, do you?" I asked a little nervously.

He shook his head, "This is the car we take the kids to school in and stuff. I have a shotgun in my truck." Of course. Typical male.

He stared at me oddly, "Why would I need a gun?"

"Well... you heard of werewolves?" when he nodded, I continued, "Well, I'm kind of like that, except different. Wait here. I'll be back."

I hopped out of the car and hid in the bushes while I changed. When I emerged, Keeper met me. He was ready to start searching around the house. I flicked my tail at him, giving him permission to go ahead. I padded over to Eric's side of the car and yipped. He looked down at me.

"Karissa?" he asked, unsure. I wagged my tail and yipped again. He half smiled at me, "You're kinda... cute. For a... what are you, anyway? A coyote?" I growled, shaking my head. I licked the stripe along my side, trying to draw his attention to it. Nobody ever noticed the stripe that marked me as a Side-striped Jackal. Coyotes did not have this mark.

"Nevermind," he chuckled, "Go do your thing."

I was liking him more and more. For being such a prep when she was younger, Tawni had good taste in men. I shook my fur to settle it, padding off to join Keeper. He met me as I came around the side of the house. He wagged his tail, telling me that all was fine around the house. I trotted beside him as we moved on to the street. My brother's scent was strong, fresher and stale, right on top of each other. I followed the path he took as he left his house on his normal jog. I flicked my ears at Keeper, asking him to take the path backwards, so that it would take us half as long. I found normal scents overlaying his-a dog passed this way, a car drove through here, a woman on a bicycle. I followed it into the woods. I knew why Aaron had jogged in the woods instead of on the street like normal people. The woods were where I had run in jackal form, him with me. It must have reminded him of me, his big sister that had run off to be a vet. I had only been in the woods for a few minutes when I heard Keeper howl. I rushed to where he was, skidding to a stop beside my dog. I wrinkled my nose.

Werewolf scent was everywhere, along with Aaron's. The ground had been gouged by massive claws, and I could smell magic. Thankfully, one of my talents was seeing through magic, neutralizing it. I used that ability now, and I almost wished I hadn't.

Almost.

I stared in horror at the blood that stained the ground, hidden from the humans by magic. They had probably hired a witch to clean up after them, so the humans wouldn't look at them as the culprits. I knew, also, that the blood was Aaron's. There was a lot of blood here, all of it his. I keened quietly, pressing into Keeper's side. He licked me between my ears and nudged me to the edge of the path. He poked at a bush with his paw, whining. I sniffed at it obediently, surprised to smell werewolf and Aaron. They had dragged him this way, whether to get rid of the body or something else, I didn't know. I motioned for Keeper to follow me as I followed a trail. It left the forest and went to an unused alley behind a house. I saw where a car had accelerated, leaving a tang of burning rubber in the air even after three days. I sat down and tried to figure out what had happened. Keeper followed the car's path, but lost it a few yards after the skid marks ended. He returned to sit beside me, licking my ears to comfort me. I panted as I thought.

The werewolves had most likely killed him, according to the blood that had covered the ground and the trees and bushes. Why then, if they had killed him, would they drag his body out to their get-away car and speed off as if all the demons of Hell were after them? It just didn't make sense, unless...

_Unless Aaron's still alive._

I gave an excited yip. Keeper perked his ears, curious, but I was already hightailing it back to Eric. I grabbed my clothes off the ground and jumped into the open passenger-side door. Keeper hopped in after me, and I pulled it shut with a paw. I yipped at Eric, who was staring at us oddly.

"Ready to head back?" he asked. I nodded. He started the car, put it in drive, and pressed the gas pedal down. We went home.

"What do you mean you're not going to tell us?" Patricia screeched at me. I glared at her, pulling my lips back from my teeth, even though I was back in human form.

"I told you as much as I safely can. Now I have to go," I ignored her gasp and looked to Mom and Dad, "If I go talk to someone, I may be able to find out something."

Dad frowned, "Are you sure you can't tell us?"

I nodded, "It would put you guys in danger."

"What about you?" Tawni sniffled, grabbing my arm, "I don't want to lose you again!" I stared at her, shocked. She gave me an embarrassed smile, "I know I wasn't very nice to you when we were growing up, but the other kids made fun of you, and when I stood up for you, they started making fun of me. I was just a kid. I thought you were ruining my life... but you're my sister. I love you."

I almost cried. I barely held the tears back as I hugged her, "Thanks, Tawni. You know I love you too, little sis." I grinned at her, "As to your first question, I can handle it much better than a few humans could. I'll take my cell phone, just in case you need to get ahold of me." With that, I turned and hugged Mom and Dad, ruffled Poppy and Timothy's hair, patted Luke on the shoulder, ignored Terri, and shook hands with Eric. After all the goodbyes were finished, I left, Keeper at my side.

We jumped in my car and peeled out of there like the place was on fire. I knew where most of the werewolves in town lived, so it wouldn't be any problem to find them. Getting them to talk to me without killing me or Keeper would be... interesting. I looked over at Keeper, who had his head out the open window and his tongue lolling out. I giggled, the anxiety going right out of me. I patted Keeper's shoulder and laughed again when he grinned at me, his tongue still flopping around in the wind.

I pulled up to the three story brick house, stuffing my fear and worry away to the back of my mind. I hopped out of the car after putting it in park, Keeper right behind me. He bumped my hand with his muzzle, trying to reassure me. I gave him a nervous smile before going up the porch steps to the front door. They knew I was here-I could hear them coming towards the door. I wish I'd known the werewolf's phone number so I could have called first. I might've been able to avoid this whole thing.

A man who was just a few inches taller than me (and I was short) opened the door. His hair was short, almost a buzz cut, and light brown. His eyes were green, like the leaves in summer. He was muscled, but not overly so. He was also frowning at me, his nose twitching as he took in my scent.

"Who are you?" he asked gruffly, glaring at Keeper.

I lifted my chin, but didn't meet his gaze. That was a bad idea, with werewolves, "My name is Karissa Chime. I was wondering if you knew anything about the whereabouts of my brother, Aaron Chime?"

He eyed me with more interest than before, "Would you like to come in?"

I nodded, stepping past him as he moved aside to let me in. I kept my eyes down, and so did Keeper. He's a smart dog.

"I'm John Mitchell, Alpha of the North Carolina Pack," he introduced himself. He offered me a seat and refreshments, but I just accepted the chair. I kept my eyes on the floor, trying not to think of how my mother had died. The newspapers had said "mauled by a bear," but I knew different. I had talked to the officers who had covered the case. They had told me the paw prints in the ground around her body had been wrong for a bear. That meant only one thing:

Werewolf.

I finally lifted my eyes to see what the werewolf in this room was doing. I jumped when I saw that he was staring at me, studying me. I quickly looked down again.

"I saw on the news that a man named Aaron Chime was missing, but there was no evidence to show that wolves were the culprits," he seemed thoughtful. "You said he was your brother?" he seemed skeptical.

I sighed, "I know, I know. I'm not from America. My mother was full-blooded Egyptian, and my father was a white man. Aaron is my adopted brother."

He nodded, "I understand. You are the girl who turns into a jackal, correct?"

My eyes flicked up to meet his again, "Yes." I wondered how he knew about me. I tried to keep a low profile, not draw attention to myself.

He gave a small smile, "It's hard to hide anything from the Marrok."

The Marrok is the leader of all werewolves on the North American continent. He was the oldest of the werewolves, a small man who blended in anywhere. No one realized he was dangerous until he killed you, and then you didn't have to worry about how dangerous he was anymore. He lived in Montana, last I heard. I'd never met him, of course. I really do try to stay out of the werewolves' sights.

I sighed, "I suppose he _would_ tell you about me, seeing as how I used to live here. You're positive none of your wolves had any part in the kidnapping of my brother?"

He didn't answer my question immediately, "I recently had a Pack Meeting in my house. All of my wolves showed up, every single one of them." He gave me a knowing look. I understood easily.

"Could I have a sniff?" I asked, "If you don't mind, of course?"

He smiled and nodded, "Have at it."

I motioned for Keeper to sniff at one side of the room. I would take the other. Keeper ignored John and started snuffling at the furniture on the other side of the living room. It only took a few minutes for me to get all the scents on my side. I looked at Keeper to see if he'd found anything. He shook his head, his ears flopping wildly. I looked at John for permission before going on to the next room. Keeper followed.

I searched the entire house like that, but none of the scents matched the ones I had found at the scene. Keeper didn't find any either. I turned back to John and shook my head. He wasn't surprised, if I was reading the look on his face correctly. He invited me to sit a second time, and I told him no. Politely, of course. I continued to stand, Keeper pressed against my leg. I met John's eyes for a few moments.

"None of the scents in your house match the ones Keeper and I found at the scene," I admitted, "But I know werewolf scent when I smell it. There were three different werewolves there, and a whole bunch of blood."

He sent me a sympathetic look, "Don't you think it's possible that your brother is dead?" he asked, gently.

I kept my eyes down as I bared my teeth, "They took him with them in their get-away car. They didn't leave his body for a witch to take care of."

John's eyes widened-and not because I was threatening him with my teeth bared in a snarl, "You think they were trying to turn him? Whatever for?"

I shrugged, "My mother was killed by werewolves, and they left her body there, for any human to find. I think it was supposed to be a message to... someone. Why else would they just leave her there? They didn't even try to make it look like it was an accident." When my words choked off, it was because I was fighting back tears. I wasn't crying for the mother I couldn't remember. I was crying for my brother-my little brother. I knew it was irrational, but I couldn't help picturing Aaron as the little boy he had been when bullies had ganged up on him and beaten him up. I had gotten there, drawn by his cries, and nearly killed all the other boys. When the police had gotten there, Aaron had been curled up next to me, asleep, his head resting on my lap.

They had my little brother.

"Calm down, Karissa," John said quietly, trying to use his power as an Alpha wolf to calm me. I hadn't realized until he said something that I was practically vibrating with the force of my growling. "You need to stay calm, or you're going to hurt someone," he said soothingly.

I clenched my teeth, "Do you know of any other werewolves in the area?"

He frowned, "There are a couple of loners, but they live up in the mountains. My wolves would have known if they had visited the town."

I turned and started for the door, "I'll go anyway. I'd like to see what they've been up to," I paused at the front door before opening it. Without turning around, I thanked him, and fled. I felt his eyes on my back the entire time. I ignored him. I had things to do.

Such as finding and killing the werewolves that had attacked my brother.

I visited each of the loners. The first one was wary of me, but his scent was not familiar. The second wolf was as friendly as could be, and very sad that my brother had been kidnapped by rogue werewolves. He invited me inside, and as I passed him, I scented something coming from his house. Something I would have recognized anywhere:

Guardian. And he was injured.

Keeper realized it at the same time and turned on our host with a snarl that I immediately echoed. The werewolf looked shocked for a heartbeat, then cursed.

"I told them idiots that keeping the dog was a bad idea," he growled, closing the door behind me and locking it. Needless to say, what he locked was key-operated-none of those handy-dandy knobs on this door. I checked to make sure there were no other werewolves in the house-there were. Three others besides the one in front of me. I informed Keeper of this, though he probably already knew. His senses are almost as good as mine. I faced the wolf in front of me.

"What did you do with my brother?" I asked tonelessly.

He grinned, showing sharp fangs, "Wouldn't you like to know?"

That was when I hit him.

I trusted Keeper to watch my back as I lunged forward and got him with my right hook. He, surprised by my unusual strength, fell backwards into the door, leaving a sizable crack in the wood. I laughed at him as he gaped up at me, trying to get his breath back.

"Yes, I would like to know," I told him, "And I'll know what I want to know by the time I leave, even if I have to beat it out of every single one of you."

He gasped as I kicked him in the face, crushing his nose. That was when the other three wolves attacked, one of them in wolf form. Keeper warned me before going for one man's throat. I gave the first wolf another kick before I leaped towards the werewolf in wolf form. I landed on all fours, in my jackal shape. I shook off the last of my clothes and dove for the wolf's paws, hoping to crush them. I hadn't brought a gun loaded with silver (which I had at home, but hadn't thought to bring), or a silver knife (which I'd also left at home). My teeth would have to do. Besides, I didn't want to kill them-at least not before I got the information I wanted.

The wolf jumped backwards, barely avoiding my snapping jaws. I changed the direction of my attack and clipped the wolf's muzzle with my teeth. Blood sprayed from the wound and the wolf stifled a yelp. She-for the wolf was female-shoved me back and tried to grab me by the scruff of my neck. She would have then proceeded to shake me until my neck broke. Good thing I'm a veteran fighter. I ducked under her belly, hamstringing her with the same ease I sliced open my surgery patients. She fell forward, snarling bloody murder. I ignored her and turned to the man who was trying his best to get Keeper off of his throat. I bumped into his knees from behind, causing him to fall to his knees. I signaled for Keeper to guard him while I took care of the other one.

One problem: while I'd been fighting the other three, this one had gotten a gun. A shotgun, to be exact. And it was aimed at me.

I heard the explosion as he fired his weapon. I saw the room fly past me as I slammed into the wall, my blood splattering the wood panels. I slid to the floor, still not feeling the pain. I couldn't use my legs, though, so even though I didn't feel any pain, I still couldn't get up and keep fighting. Keeper had just turned to see what had happened when the door burst open, hitting the man I had first attacked (the poor idiot was still leaning against the door). A man I didn't know and a wolf I would have recognized anywhere came charging in, along with John. The wolf was the pale wolf that had terrorized my dogs, gotten shot (before I patched him up), and then replaced the door his men had broken. The one they had called "Boss."

I watched as they tore into the men inside the house (and the bitch in wolf form). I managed to shift into my human shape so I could tell them to save at least one of them (preferably not the bitch). The pale wolf nodded and proceeded to kill the man who had shot me and then kill the bitch-wolf. He then came to snuffle gently at me, licking the blood from my face. I whimpered, finally feeling the pain. I curled into a ball, staring blankly at the pool of blood that was growing beneath me. I blacked out.

When I woke up, I was in a familiar-smelling place. It took me a moment before I remembered why I remembered it-it was John's house. I looked around for him, stopping with a hiss as I felt the burning pain in my shoulder and chest. I flopped back down onto the bed I'd been laying on.

"Nope," I muttered to myself, "Not getting up any time soon."

"Do you often talk to yourself?"

I squeaked. There was no other name for the sound I made. I scrambled backwards, despite the pain in my shoulder. I stared at the man who sat in a comfy-looking recliner not too far away from my bed (okay, technically not _my_ bed, but the one I was currently occupying). He smiled at me, his bright blue eyes twinkling. I glared back, as much as I could. He had auburn hair, the red glints not as noticeable in the weak fluorescent lighting. He was _huge_, taller than me by a long shot. And he was muscular-oh dear Lord in Heaven, was he muscular. His skin was lightly tanned from being out in the sun fairly often, and his hands were big and strong. He smelled of werewolf and something else... something familiar.

"Shi-oot!" I hissed through my clenched teeth, almost saying something else, "You're the wolf that bothered my dogs!"

He gave a long-suffering sigh, but I noticed the amusement was still in his gaze, "Is that what you're always going to remember me for?" he asked. "You know, I also happened to be the wolf that saved your life yesterday."

"_Yesterday?"_ I gasped, "You mean I lost an entire day of looking for my brother?" I lowered my face into my hands, feeling tears threatening my pride.

The werewolf who sat with me gently touched my shoulder with one of his big hands, "Don't worry, Karissa. We found your brother, safe and sound-for the most part."

My head whipped up so fast I heard the vertebrae in my neck pop. I stared at him in shock, trying to ignore the burn of my gunshot wound (or, as the police call it, a GSW), "You found him?" I was embarrassed to hear my voice crack. "Where?"

He smiled gently at me, "We took your advice and kept a couple of the rogue wolves alive for questioning. One attacked us and forced one of my wolves to kill him," this was not surprising to me. There are not many ways a werewolf can kill itself (aggravating another werewolf only works if the other wolf _reeeeally _doesn't like you). He continued, "but the other sang like a canary. He told us where they were keeping your brother, but..." he trailed off and looked away.

I frowned, "But what?" I asked.

He grimaced, "You'll have to see for yourself. Aaron's been begging to come in here and see you all day, but since you've been out like a light, we kept him busy elsewhere. Do you feel up to seeing him?"

I nodded eagerly, "Yes, please!"

He sighed and got to his feet. Wow. He was well over six feet tall-more like six-five or six-and-a-half. I had to crane my neck _way_ back to see him. He noticed my staring and smiled down at me. At least he didn't make a crack like, "How's the weather down there?" or something like that. He turned and opened the door to the room I was in. He murmured something to the person (or werewolf) outside. I was able to hear it with my superb hearing.

"Go tell Aaron that she's awake, and she's ready to see him," he said softly. I heard the one he was talking to trot off purposefully. It was just a moment later that he (or she. How would I know?) returned, with what sounded like a wolf (or a really big dog) in tow. The first werewolf opened the my door to admit someone. I stared in shock at the fox-colored wolf that padded in.

Seriously, the wolf looked like an overgrown fox with his vivid orange fur, black-tipped ears, black legs, white underbelly, and poofy tail complete with adorable white tail-tip. He was lankier than most werewolves I'd seen, with longer legs and a narrow, elegant muzzle. The only thing that made him different from the average fox was the black stripe that started at the crown of his head and ended just past his shoulders. He tilted his angular face up to look at me, and I finally realized what my nose was trying to tell me.

Aaron. The wolf smelled of werewolf and Aaron.

I was positive of it when I noticed his chocolate brown eyes-the same color Aaron's eyes were. There was uncertainty in his gaze as he looked at me, uncertainty and fear. I felt nothing but joy. The second I realized it was Aaron, I threw myself out of my bed and wrapped my arms around his neck.

"Aaron!" I gasped, "I was so worried!"

Aaron nosed anxiously at my face and neck, his big black nose cold and wet against my skin. I giggled as he licked my cheek, scratching at the thick fur behind his ears. He leaned back to look at me, his eyes warm and happy. I sat in front of him, cross-legged on the floor. He touched my bandaged shoulder and whimpered.

I snorted, "I'm not gonna die. You know what almost killed me, though? Tawni calling me and telling me you'd been missing for _three frickin days._"

He ducked his head and peeked up at me with his deep brown eyes. I rubbed him between the ears and wondered why he hadn't shifted to human. It would be easier to talk to him that way. Of course, we always knew what the other was thinking before they said it. I shouldn't have too much trouble interpreting his body language.

"Is Guardian okay?" I asked him, placing my hands on either side of his face, "I scented him at that loner's house, but I kinda got knocked out before I could look for him."

His ears perked up and he bobbed his head. I gave a relieved sigh. I was glad Guardian was okay. I could picture the deerhound as I had last seen him, bouncing around me and Aaron as I hugged him goodbye. He'd still been a puppy when I left-he'd be about fifteen years old now.

The door opened and Keeper shoved his way past the other werewolf. He paused to sniff at Aaron before throwing himself at me. I laughed as I wrestled with him. Aaron turned to look at the other werewolf and lowered his head. The other werewolf turned his bright blue gaze from Aaron to me. I lowered my eyes as well. He laughed.

"You don't have to pretend to be less dominant than me-I know you're not. You could control my wolf when I was injured," he smiled at me when I darted a look at him, "I'm a big boy. I can take it."

My lips curled up in a small smile, "I've found that, most times, wolves leave you alone when you pretend you're submissive to them."

He laughed, "No wonder you've been able to stay alive so long." He stopped laughing when he looked at Aaron, "We do have a slight problem, though. Aaron, here, is almost as dominant as I am, and tons more dominant than the local Alpha. I think we're gonna have to send him either to Washington state and hope the Alpha there is more dominant, or send him to the Marrok, who I _know_ is more dominant."

I frowned, "You couldn't just leave him with me?"

He shook his head, "He needs a pack. Tell ya what-why don't you two talk it out and tell me when you know what you wanna do? I'll be upstairs having dinner with John whenever you want to join us." He turned and left us alone.

"Well, what do you want to do?" I asked Aaron. I held out both of my hands, "Right hand is Washington and the Alpha there, left is the Marrok."

Aaron looked at me for a while. I don't know what he was looking for, or what he saw, but he finally seemed to decide. He leaned over and bumped my left hand. Left for the Marrok. I nodded.

"Marrok it is, then," I sighed, patting his head, "You up for some dinner?"

I called in a veterinarian friend to take over my clinic for a few days. Mark would continue to take care of my dogs. When I called him and told him I'd found my brother, he'd noticed something in my voice. He told me to spill the beans. I did so, knowing that I could trust Mark. He was shocked, and upset that I'd been hurt.

"So the werewolf that you patched up the other day saved you? Cool!" he exclaimed, "How'd he know that you were in danger, though?"

I shrugged, forgetting that he couldn't see me, "I have no idea. And frankly, I don't care. I like being alive, thank you very much."

"But... wow... I can't believe your brother's a werewolf now! And you said he looks like a giant fox?"

"Yeah," I chuckled, "He's a cute wolf."

"That sounds familiar..." I could hear him flipping through a book. The flipping stopped, "Here it is! 'The Maned Wolf is a large, long-legged, endangered wild dog that has a reddish coat with black hair across the shoulders and large erect ears. It's coloration is similar to that of the Red Fox. It is native to the grasslands of South America.'" He paused, "There's some big, Latin word here. I'm not even going to try to pronounce it. There's a picture too-it looks just like what you described."

"A Maned Wolf, huh? That's cool," I leaned back so I could see into John's kitchen, where Aaron was munching down on some hamburgers, "You hear that, Aaron? You're native to South America!"

He grinned at me, his human face older than I remembered it. He had shifted back to human as soon as we realized we needed to go to Montana. That meant he would have to be human. I don't think the airport security would take kindly to me smuggling an endangered Maned Wolf out of the state-a state that shouldn't even have any Maned Wolves. So now Aaron sat at the kitchen table, eating hamburgers from the local McDonald's. We'd already decided to wait until after Aaron was settled in Montana before I told our parents that he was safe. I was considering only telling Mom and Dad, but I would let Aaron and the Marrok make the final decision.

Aaron crumpled the wrapper and tossed it towards the trashcan, "Two-pointer!" he crowed, "I'm ready to go when you are, Kare."

I laughed, "Well, I have nothing else do." I put the phone back to my face, "We gotta go, Mark. I'll keep you posted. Make sure not to let Raven and Butterfly shed fur all over my good clothes. You know how they like to break into my closet and roll everywhere."

Mark chuckled, "Will do, Kare. I'll keep an eye on Cheyenne and Missy too."

"Bye," I told him before hanging up. I turned back to John, Aaron, and Everett (the wolf who bothered my dogs, got shot, and saved me and Aaron). Keeper and Guardian sat on the floor next to each other, Keeper sitting taller than Guardian. Guardian's muzzle was white with age, his eyes foggy and near-blind. He had been happy to see me, knowing me even though it had been more than a decade. I wondered again at the fact that Keeper, who was several years older than Guardian, still looked like he was in his prime. Again, I pushed it from my mind and focused on the task at hand-namely, getting Aaron to Aspen Creek, Montana.

"I'm going with you," Everett told me in a no-nonsense voice that I'm sure worked wonderfully with his wolves. I frowned.

"Why?" I growled, raising my eyes to glare at him, "What's in it for you?"

He smirked, "Nothing in particular. I just wanted to make sure the wolves up at Aspen Creek didn't kill you on sight. They're not exactly the most stable werewolves."

I leaned down and grabbed my bag with my extra clothes and stuff, "Whatever. If Aaron doesn't care, I don't care."

"I don't care," Aaron piped up cheerfully. I snorted.

"I still think it would be better if you left your dog here," John muttered, "It'll just cost extra to take him with you."

Keeper growled, turning to glare at the North Carolina Alpha. His dark eyes met John's green ones, and surprisingly, John was the one to back down. He shook his head and looked away.

"I don't think Keeper agrees with you," Aaron said lightly, scratching the Saluki behind his silky ears. He grinned at me, "Guardian's staying behind, though. He's getting too old to go gallivanting around the country, even if it is on an airplane."

I closed my eyes and massaged my temples. I had a feeling this was going to be a lot of trouble, but I would do it, if only for Aaron. Everett was going to be a thorn in my side for a while longer, but at least I would have Aaron and Keeper there to help me. I opened my eyes and lifted my chin defiantly.

"Let's go."

**CrazyCross:** And there it is, folks! What did you think? For those of you who don't know, Everett is actually one of Patricia Brigg's characters! He was mentioned in the first book, Mooncalled, by Mercy as she's trying to see who's most dominant after the Marrok. It was Bran, Samuel and Charles, Adam, and then Everett! I thought, since he never appeared in the books again, I would use his character in my story ^^  
**Karissa:** ...You just couldn't think of a good guy name, could you?  
**CrazyCross:** ...Sh-shut up!  
**Karissa:** I thought so. Thanks for letting me find my brother, though. That was actually semi-nice of you.  
**CrazyCross:** *clears throat* Uh, you're welcome! *nervous sweat*  
**Karissa:** ...You're planning something for the next chapter, aren't you? *glares*  
**CrazyCross:** Uh... Th-that's all, folks! Remember, **5 MORE REVIEWS**, or no story!


	3. Chapter Three

_**N/A:** Well, here we are again! I got enough **REVIEWS**, so I thought I'd go ahead and put up chapter three! Full of humor, romance (a little), and drama, I bring to you, Side-Striped Chapter Three! I hope you enjoy it! Everett comes in a lot more in this chapter ^^ and, here's the thing... after this, I want **10 MORE REVIEWS** before I'll put up chapter four, which I have not even started to type yet! I finished chapter three and immediately put it up! So remember, **10 MORE REVIEWS**! Or no new update!_  
**Karissa:** You just want to give yourself more time to finish the fourth chapter, don't you?  
**CrazyCross:** ... is there a problem with that?  
**Karissa:** *sigh* no, not at all... I just really don't like how you ended this chapter... so foreshadowing! It's almost like- *CrazyCross gags her* Mmfph!  
**CrazyCross:** Shh! Don't ruin the surprise! Okay everyone, ENJOY!  
**Karissa:** *muffled* Mamfth mememfthfth, **FTH MTH MEMEFTHS**!  
**CrazyCross:** *stares at her* Uh... I think she said, "And remember, **10 MORE REVIEWS**!" ...which is absolutely right! Now... ACTION!

**CHAPTER THREE**

What did I ever do to deserve this? I closed my eyes and pretended to sleep, trapped in between Everett and Aaron on a tiny plane. Aaron had his arm around my shoulder and his head resting on mine. He was (thankfully) asleep. I could tell that Everett was tense just by the way he gripped the armrest between us. I tried to relax and think about happy thoughts, like being on the nice, firm ground. I know that I would probably survive a crash (especially with two big, strong werewolves to protect me), but seriously, what about Keeper? He didn't have anybody to save him. And I really just preferred to stay on the ground. Jackals were not meant to fly. If we were, we would've been born with wings.

So, yeah, I was tense too.

"Calm down, Kare," Aaron murmured, "We're not gonna crash."

I growled low in my throat, "Stop reading my mind, dagdernit."

His whole body reverberated with his deep chuckle, "I'm not reading your mind, I reading your scent. You smell worried."

I sniffed myself teasingly, "Really? I thought I smelled like John's 'Misty Waterfall' shampoo."

Even Everett laughed at that one. He leaned over and sniffed at my neck right where my neck met my shoulder, "You smell like that, yes, and of worry." He drew in a deep breath, "And of fear." He grinned, "I didn't think you were afraid of anything."

I bared my teeth at him, "I'm not _afraid_. I just don't like heights."

Aaron snuggled against my hair, "She's technically not afraid of anything. She just normally avoids things she doesn't like. Thanks for coming with me, Kare," he murmured this last to me, "And thanks for coming to look for me when you heard I was missing."

I smiled and closed my eyes, leaning back in my seat and relaxing, "You'd do the same for me, Aaron. Don't mention it."

He laughed again and settled back in to sleep, "Love you, Kare."

"Love you, Aaron."

Everett watched us with a speculative look in his bright blue eyes, "You two are really close, huh?" he asked softly.

I glanced over at him, "He was the only sibling I had that actually treated me as a human growing up. Our parents loved me, but they kind of forgot about me when their other kids were involved."

Aaron was snoring softly in my ears. That was all I could hear besides the snoring of other passengers and the rumble of the plane. Everett looked out the window (the lucky Alpha got the window seat) for a while. He sighed, ever so softly.

"How old are you?" was the question he finally asked. I stared at him confusedly.

"Haven't you ever heard that one thing about how women don't like to reveal their ages?" I asked, smirking.

He turned and smirked right back at me, "I figured you wouldn't mind."

I stuck out my tongue at him, "Smart-ass. No, I don't mind. If you must know, I'm thirty-two. I'll be turning thirty-three in three months."

He stared at me, "You don't look a day over twenty."

I fluttered my lashes at him, "Why thank you, sir! That's just the nicest thing anybody's ever said to me." I grinned at his mock scowl, "I know that I've stopped aging. It doesn't really bother me so much now that Aaron's going to live forever."

Everett had to ruin my moment, "So long as he doesn't get killed."

I stuck my tongue out at him, "No one's touching Aaron while I'm around." I bared my teeth at him, the normal, flat, human teeth replaced by the jackal's sharp fangs. He raised an eyebrow and grinned.

"I believe you."

I squeaked as the plane started to buck. I tucked my face into his shoulder, which was the closest solid object to my face at the time. He gave a surprised laugh as I flinched with each jump of the plane. I growled at him.

"Don't laugh at me!" I snarled, then muttered, "I'm not going to die. I'm not going to die. I'm not going to die. There are two wolves here. They'll save me. I'm not going to die..."

Everett tucked his arm around me as Aaron sat up, rubbing his eyes sleepily. "You'll be fine," Everett murmured, "We won't let anything happen to you."

Aaron ruffled my hair, "We're just landing, Kare. Don't you want to land?"

I turned my tear-filled eyes to him and nodded, "Y-yes..."

His already warm brown eyes softened and he pulled me from Everett's embrace and into his. He stroked my hair as he held me and murmured into my hair, "Thank you for coming with me, Kare. I'd be terrified without you."

I sniffed, "You're welcome." He laughed softly, his breath stirring my hair as we landed. When they finally allowed us to get off, I was tucked in between Everett and Aaron, holding hands with both of them as we got off the plane and onto the nice, unmoving ground. I almost fell to my knees and kissed the asphalt, I was so happy. After we picked up our luggage (and Keeper), we started looking around for our ride.

"There's the Marrok himself," Everett said almost reverently, staring at a young-looking blonde man. He was slight and looked like a bored teenager, but I could almost see the power swirling around him. It raised my hackles as I sensed the first wolf that might match my own dominance. I started growling; Everett whirled to stare at me in shock.

"This is why I avoided him," I muttered, keeping my eyes from his face as we walked over to him.

"Hello, Everett," the young-looking man said in a friendly voice, "It's been a while. This must be Aaron Chime. It's a pleasure to meet you, Aaron. I'm Bran Cornick."

They all shook hands, and then they turned to me. Well, shoot. I'd been hoping they'd write me off as a stupid female and ignore me. Bran held out his hand to me.

"I've heard of you, little jackal," he said, a smile in his voice. "Karissa Chime, half Egyptian but born in the United States. Your mother immigrated from Africa shortly before you were born, and just after giving birth, she left you at an orphanage in North Carolina. Not long after, she was killed, and under suspicious circumstances."

At this, I looked up and met the eyes of the head Alpha of North America. He stared hard at me, testing my dominance. I knew the safest thing to do was drop my eyes immediately, but I was curious. Who was more dominant? Me, or the oldest known werewolf who ruled America with fierceness and cunning?

We stared at each other for a long time-maybe six or seven minutes, but it felt like a century. When I saw his eyes start flickering, signs of the wolf fighting for control, I looked aside-not exactly giving up, but not challenging him either. I looked over into the startled, slightly awed eyes of Everett. I heard a choked laugh from Bran.

"Amazing. She didn't force her power on me, but just ignored mine. If we ever fought to the death, I would probably win, but it wouldn't be easy," he patted me on the shoulder, "Let's get going. Is that a Saluki? Wonderful dogs."

We made it to Aspen Creek, Montana later that evening. Bran set us up in a nice-looking hotel. It wasn't huge and modern, but it wasn't some old English tavern either (though that might've been entertaining). I had my own room to myself (and Keeper). It would've been lonely, but I've lived with only Keeper as my main companion for years. I was used to it by now.

Aaron was going to meet with the Marrok in the morning to talk about what he would do about his situation, and Aaron wanted me to be there. I curled up on my bed, Keeper beside me. This place fairly reeked of werewolves, and all the humans knew of their existence. Apparently, though I'd tried to stay off the radar, all the werewolves knew of my existence too. They'd all glared at me as we put our stuff in the hotel. When I'd asked Bran what their problem was (though not in such nice words), he'd told me about a girl he knew who could turn into a coyote. His pack hadn't liked her much either, because of her ability to change easily and whenever she wanted, and the probability that she would be able to have children. Female werewolves are rare, and they cannot have children. The shift from human to wolf form is very painful, so, even if the she-wolf _might_ be pregnant, the pregnancy is immediately aborted by the change. I knew that the females would be looking at me and hating me because I could do what they can't. I just haven't decided to do it yet.

Oh, I've had sex a-plenty, but I always used birth control. I haven't found the right guy yet, the one that I would accept as my life-mate. I'd been thinking that he would have to be a werewolf or some other creature that lives forever, seeing as I wasn't aging any time in the near future. Everett seemed to be a good candidate, though maybe, if the Marrok wasn't mated...

And then the Marrok's son Charles had walked in, a woman behind him. My gaze had zeroed in on Charles, my eyes widening.

I have a weakness for indians.

The woman behind Charles, noticing my awed stare, growled at me, "Mine!" she growled, grabbing Charles' arm. I knew that she was his mate-I could see the mate bond between them. That couldn't keep me from dreaming.

I winked at Charles, "If something happens, call me. I'm sure your daddy has my number."

He locked eyes with me, amusement in his gaze. His eyes widened, though, when I didn't immediately drop my eyes. We stared at each other for a few moments, and he finally looked down, surprise in the tense lines of his mouthwatering body. He turned his head toward his father, a question on his face.

"Don't feel bad. She's as dominant as me, if not more," Bran chuckled. He looked at the woman behind Charles as well, "Anna, don't you worry about her trying to steal Charles. She's a good jackal. Besides, I doubt she would hurt an Omega..."

As he'd been speaking, I jumped towards the woman named Anna, shifting in midair. I shed my clothes in the air, landing on Anna's chest. I'd moved too fast for her to dodge, and my tackle knocked her backwards. I landed on top of her, my teeth at her throat. I could hear Charles growling and sent a bit of my power his way, calming him. I wouldn't hurt her. I'm not that mean. Normally.

The Marrok sighed, "I didn't say you _couldn't_ hurt her, just that you probably wouldn't." I grinned up at him, hopping off of Anna. She tried to swipe at me, but i dodged easily, smirking over my shoulder at her. I'm sure she's a nice person, and she really helps the wolves control themselves, but I don't like it when someone thinks I'll just roll over and play dead at a dominant, or even an Omega. I'd heard some stories about Anna Cornick, how she had calmed the Marrok at his worst. I probably could've done the same.

It was true-while I didn't have the ability to cause wolves to lie at my feet by my very presence, I could use my power to calm them, to ease the change, and to generally just help them. If I work at it, I can even keep them from attacking me, but most times I'm up for a good fight. I'd only used the attacking thing when there were humans around. Once I had been attacked while Aaron was around, and I had used it. It had taken a lot out of me to control the wolf, which had been intent on attacking me, despite the fact that Aaron was there too. I figured it was a rogue wolf, but it might've been one of the wolves that had hurt Aaron. He still hadn't talked about what had happened, but I wasn't going to force him. It had probably involved a lot of pain, and fear. I knew that becoming a werewolf meant being savaged by one, until you're almost dead, and then hoping and praying that the werewolf genes-I suppose you'd call it a virus?-would work it's way past your immune system. Suddenly, your fatal wounds would start healing at a rapid rate, and if you were old, you would return to your prime, and stay that way forever-or at least until someone killed you. I knew all of this from my investigations into werewolves. I had been investigating ever since I'd found out about what had happened to my real mother. That was a long time ago, and despite the fact that the Marrok is _very_ good at hiding the...less friendly things about werewolves, I happen to make a _very_ persuasive investigator. I should've been in the FBI, or something.

But back to what was going on...

So after that, Charles and Anna left, to my disappointment (at least on Charles' part). Then the Marrok had showed us to our rooms, with orders for Aaron to come to his house the next morning. Then Aaron had looked at me with that sad look that always gets me and asked me if I would come with him. I'd sighed and told him yes, while Everett watched with an amused look in his pretty blue eyes.

"What are you looking at, pretty boy?" I growled, blushing, as Aaron skipped happily off to his room.

Everett grinned, "Nothing, nothing at all," he chuckled, following Aaron. I couldn't help grinning as he walked away.

_Bang! Bang! BANG!_

"Karissa, wake up!" Aaron yelled. "It's time to go!"

I threw a pillow at the door, "If you don't shut up right now, brat, I will rip out your intestines and gag you with them!" I shrieked.

There was silence for a few moments. I lifted my head from the other pillow and blinked sleepily at the door. Everything was still blurry. This was too early, especially after I flew across the country in a cramped plane! For him, of all people. I obviously didn't have my priorities straight. Staying in bed came first, then staying on the ground, and _then_ Aaron. Yeah, that sounded right.

"Ew, Kare. I forgot how disgusting you are in the morning," came Aaron's muffled voice from the other side of the door. "We really gotta go, though. The Marrok's expecting us."

"Screw the Marrok and all you early-rising werewolves!" I croaked, burrowing under my covers. "I'm not going anywhere until the sun's up!"

"The sun _is_ up, Kare, but you're obviously not!" he groaned, hitting the door again. I heard a loud _crack!_ I sat up, worried, and groaned when I saw the source of the sound.

There was a fist sticking through a hole in my door.

"Oops..." Aaron muttered, trying to pull his hand out. He tore off more bits of the door as it released him from its grip. "Ow... it cut me..." he mumbled. He peeked through the face-sized hole, "C'mon, Kare..." he whined pitifully, giving me the puppy dog eyes, "I'm bleeding! Won't you come and kiss it to make it better, like you used to?"

I glared at him, "I'll bite it if you want."

He frowned, "Kare, the Marrok's gonna be mad if I don't show up! You promised to come with me!"

I was about to answer when I heard footsteps behind him. I heard a deep voice, thick with sleep, mutter, "Can't a guy get a little shut-eye around here?" Everett asked. "Aaron, what did that door ever do to you?" he grumbled.

"Nothing... I didn't mean to..." Aaron sighed, backing away from the door, "It just kinda... broke?" he gave a nervous chuckle.

"It'll be like that for a little while-not being able to control the wolf," Everett said calmly, peeking into my room, "Helloooo? Are you dressed?"

I threw my second pillow at him, "I love how you asked _after_ you peeked, you sicko!" I growled in mock anger. "And if I wasn't, why would you care? Are you that desperate?"

He didn't answer me, just chuckled and moved away from the door. I decided I was mostly awake now; I might as well get up. I patted Keeper as I grabbed my clothes and went to the small bathroom to change, just in case they decided to take a peek anyways, despite the wrath of an angry jackal. Ooh, scary.

Dressed comfortably in jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, I opened my holy door and joined them. I was just about to make some smart remark about how they were hanging around my door when my stomach growled loud enough to wake a sleeping... well, me. I blushed and scowled at them as they snickered.

"Anyplace a jackal could eat around here?" I asked, punching Aaron's shoulder to get him to shut up. Everett motioned for me to follow him. We both did, my stomach rumbling to show it's anger at not being fed. I vaguely remember not eating dinner last night. That must be why it's so angry with me. Everett led us to a small diner that smelled good enough to eat. I had lots and lots of crunchy bacon. Aaron had a sausage biscuit, while Everett had good old-fashioned biscuits and gravy. Needless to say, I stole some of his food, despite the smack he gave my hand with his spoon.

"Are you ready to go see the Marrok now?" Aaron asked, taking the last bite of his biscuit.

I pursed my lips, thinking, "I suppose I'm awake now..." I sent a look at Everett, who was trying to filch the last of my bacon and pick up the crumbs. I raised a single eyebrow at him, "Excuse me? Are you going to ask politely or steal them like the little thief we know you are?"

He laughed, "It's only fair, Karissa. You stole some of my food."

I sniffed daintily, sticking my nose in the air, trying to look my snootiest, "Pardon moi? I believe it is my right to sample any foods I please. I am the queen, after all."

Aaron nodded seriously, "She is, you know. I always have to give her food if it's something she likes. She doesn't like sausage, so that's why I got to keep my breakfast."

Everett sighed and shook his head, picking up his trash to take to the trashcan, "I'll be sure to get something... more appropriate next time," he frowned at us as we dumped our trash on his tray, smiling identical sweet smiles at him. "It was obvious you two grew up together," he grumbled, throwing our trash away with his.

Aaron hopped out of his seat, "Let's go, Kare. Everett, you comin?"

Everett shook his head, "I'll go see what Sage is up to. It's always nice to see her when I drop by." I didn't know who Sage was, but I felt a strange tightening around my eyes as I watched him walk out of the diner. It wasn't until Aaron mentioned it that I realized my upper lip was curled back to reveal my flat human teeth. I stopped the silent snarling immediately, wondering what the heck was wrong with me.

Aaron grabbed my hand when it appeared that I would rather stand there staring off into space, wondering why I was upset about something that wasn't even my business, instead of going to meet Bran with Aaron, like I should be. He dragged me out of there and down the street a ways to Bran's house, which he had shown us the day before. There really was no need to knock on the door, as I could hear footsteps already coming to let us in, but Aaron knocked lightly anyway. The door was wrenched back to reveal a slender woman with long, dark blond hair that was pulled back in a neat French braid. She had a snarl on her face that was thankfully not directed at them, because she toned it down to a slight frown when she saw who was on the front porch.

"Yes?" she asked, her voice polite, if not friendly, "Do you need something?"

"I'm Aaron Chime. The Marrok told me to meet him here this morning," Aaron informed her, smiling and holding out his hand for her to shake. He carefully kept his eyes on her chin instead of her piercing gaze. She shook his hand lightly, peering around him at me. Aaron noticed the direction of her gaze, "This is my younger sister-well, adopted sister-Karissa Chime. She offered to come with me."

Hah. "Offered," my patootie. He pulled the puppy dog eyes on me-that counts as coercion.

"I'm Leah, the Marrok's wife," she introduced herself, "He's in his study. Come on in and I'll go tell him you're here."

We walked into a nicely decorated living room and sat down on the comfortable couches. We could hear mumbles from upstairs, and then the Marrok walked alone down the stairs. He greeted us warmly, smiling in amusement when I lowered my gaze.

"I appreciate it, Karissa," he told me, patting my shoulder. I grinned, looking over at Aaron. He smiled nervously back at me. I let him take my hand again as he turned to the Marrok and dove straight in.

"I want to stay with Karissa," he said to the floor. "I don't want mom and dad to worry about me, so I'd like to stay in Tennessee. I promise I won't cause Everett any problems."

Bran watched him with calm eyes, giving nothing away, "I'd like for you to stay here for a little while so that I can see if your wolf will settle down all right. Once I'm sure you're safe, you're free to go wherever you like, so long as you don't stir up trouble." He grinned at me, "I'm sure you can handle him just fine."

"Been handling him since he was born," I drawled, grinning back at him. I gave Aaron a light punch on the shoulder, "Can you do this last part without me? I can only leave the kid in charge so long before things start getting out of control."

Aaron nodded, smiling gently at me, "I won't be long. Go on home."

Everett went home with me, which was just as well, seeing as I was even more... upset about the plane ride on the way back. It was probably because Aaron wasn't there, but I managed fine with Everett. He held my hand, which was nice, but also slightly awkward. At least his hand wasn't sweaty.

When we finally landed in good old Tennessee, I did kiss the ground, to the amusement of Everett and everyone else watching. I was just that happy to be home. Keeper was by my side as always, tongue lolling and eyes smiling. I told Everett goodbye and drove home. Little did I know that I wouldn't get the rest I'd been praying for the entire way home. As soon as I parked the car in my driveway, I knew something was wrong. Keeper did too, if the way he was growling was any indicator.

We stalked up to the house, smelling the strange scents of werewolf mixed with other things, other creatures that we had never met before. I motioned for Keeper to go around the back, but to use caution. He moved away from me silently, like a ghost, his black fur blending into the night. I continued on to the front door, which was hanging slightly off its hinges. Great, another broken door.

I didn't recognize any of the scents on the front porch, or in the front hallway. I could hear crying, the pitiful mews of kittens trapped in a closet. I immediately let them out, even though they would confuse the scents. I couldn't leave the poor things locked up in there. Despite what I like people to believe, I'm a softie for animals. I didn't have any dogs out back in the kennels, thank goodness. All of them had gone home or to stay at my clinic when I had to leave so suddenly. If they had been here, one of the werewolves might've had to shut them up. I was glad they were safe.

I stared around at the wreck the werewolves had made of my house. The couch had been ripped up, the TV turned over. All of my books were scattered around, some of the pages horribly torn. Dog food was spread everywhere in the kitchen, and cat litter in the washroom. My bedroom was the worst. It smelled like a dung heap in there. I wrinkled my nose and closed my door. I would let it air out later.

As Keeper met me at the back door, his ears back but his growls quiet, I knew that this had to be a recent thing. The smells were fresh, as if they had been here only minutes before I'd gotten home. Thank goodness it was so late. Mark wouldn't have hung around past 7 p.m. His scent was staler than the ones who had wrecked my house, so at least I didn't have to do another rescue.

I would have to do a lot of cleaning, though.

"Ick," I said to Keeper, who pressed his muzzle against my knee, "I hate cleaning." He waved his tail in sympathy, which he could afford to give, seeing as he wouldn't be the one cleaning.

Hey! Maybe I could talk Everett into getting his pack to help clean up! Yeah, it was worth a try. I would help, of course. I just didn't want to do it all by myself. With Keeper and Raven and Butterfly (and maybe Mark) watching.

It could wait until tomorrow, though. I went out the back door and curled up on the springy grass, even though I was still in human form. It wasn't exactly comfortable, but I didn't have the energy to shift just yet. Keeper curled up beside me, giving me his warmth. Somehow, I knew it was all gonna be okay.

I called Everett in the morning. He agreed to gather up some of the pack members and a couple of witches whose specialties involved clean-up. He wanted to get the perpetrator's scents first, though, which meant that he had to come over before anyone else arrived. I was still in my clothes from yesterday, since I hadn't gone into my room to get a change of clothes. My hair still looked fine, so at least I didn't feel too embarrassed. He smiled grimly at me as he got out of his car (a very expensive, beautiful car). I ushered him in, and nearly ran into him when he stopped abruptly.

I barely avoided slamming into his back, "Watch it!" I growled, scrambling backwards. He didn't say anything, just turned around and stared at me with a very intense look in his eyes. He still didn't speak.

"What?" I asked, a little softer, not as growly. He reached out and put his hand on my shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. His eyes hardened.

"I'll get them," he growled, showing fang. "I'll make them pay."

I looked away from his fierce blue eyes and shrugged, though not hard enough to shrug off his hand, "Whatever. At least the cats weren't hurt."

His voice softened, "I'm glad you're safe-I'm glad everyone's safe."

I looked up then, and nodded, "Let's get to work.

We cleaned for hours. It probably would've been days if it hadn't been for the witches. Soon, my house was spotless, if missing a TV, couch, and a few rugs. Everett offered to replace everything, but I finally talked him into just replacing the TV. I had a strange premonition that I would be getting a flatscreen, or something. Not necessarily bad, but not what I was used to, either. Nothing I had was expensive.

They all left later that evening, the day after I had gotten home. Everett was the last to leave, patting my head and waving as he got in his car. I turned and went back into my house. Finally, things could (hopefully) start getting back to normal.

Too bad that, for me, life can never be normal.

**CrazyCross:** ...and there's the end to that chapter! I left it open for a lot of things to happen, but I know what's going to happen to Kare next... *evil laugh* Mwahahaha! I shall not tell! You'll have to wait and find out! Which, you'll only be able to find out after **10 MORE REVIEWS**!  
**Karissa:** *still gagged* Mamph mamaphth mm mefth? (translation: "what's happening to me?")  
**CrazyCross:** Eheheh... you'll just have to find out, won't you? Just like everybody else-after, of course, the 10 MORE REVIEWS! Ahahahaha! I'm evil!  
**Karissa: ** *muffled screaming* **MRRRRRGFTHPHMMMG!**  
**CrazyCross:** *teasing* What was that? *gets kicked* Ouch! Should've tied your legs... Anywho! So long, folks!


	4. Chapter Four

_**N/A:** HUZZAH! IT IS I! We finally got **10 REVIEWS**! (actually, more than that-about 13) I love you guys! Even if you wrote a paragraph or just two words (those two words mainly being "please update" haha), I still love you all! The fact that you guys really wanted me to update helped me get through my brief writer's block and type this chapter! Many thanks, guys! (and girls)_  
**Karissa:** Yeah, thanks a lot for making her write more stuff where bad things happen to me and my friends. *sarcastic* Yeah, I really love you guys a lot.  
**CrazyCross:** Aw, Kare, you're such a downer! I'm in a good mood from getting onto my email account and seeing all of those emails from fanfiction! Don't ruin my buzz. Or tell them what's happening, because that would spoil everything!  
**Karissa:** Whatever.  
**CrazyCross:** Anywho! For this time, it is again _**10 REVIEWS**_! I will not put up the fifth chapter until I get _**10 MORE REVIEWS**_! I don't think I'm going to get any higher than ten, though, so don't worry ^^ And, btw, the things that say -_break time_- are where time passes. I left them out in the other chapters, but this one really needs it for you to understand what's going on. So... ENJOY! And remember! _**10 MORE REVIEWS**_!  
**Karissa:** Please don't review! You don't know what she has in store for me in the next chapter! *desperate* Please!  
**CrazyCross:** Silence, fool! *tackles her* READ, PEOPLE, READ!

**CHAPTER FOUR**

After the cleanup, life went on as usual. I got a call from my family, which was kind of awkward, because I had to tell them that I still hadn't found Aaron. Tawni fell for it, but I don't think Mom and Dad were fooled. They knew that if Aaron was still missing, I wouldn't be at home, working and living as usual. I would still be out there searching, beating the answer out of people, or something. They have such faith in me. I told them that I had exhausted all of my leads (I love watching crime scene shows) and that I was taking a break to see if anything else happened. I told them we should leave it to the authorities for now. They agreed reluctantly and let me get on with my life.

I was glad to be back with my friends and my clinic. Melissa and Cheyenne were happy to see me, and Mark tackled me the second he saw me. My friend that had taken over the clinic for the few days I was gone left, with my thanks for helping out. I was in my own little heaven on earth, saving animal's lives and being with the people who cared about me. Of course that couldn't last long, but at least it wasn't anything as bad as what happened to Aaron. I dreaded it almost as much, though.

It all started the third day I was back...

I walked into the clinic, early as usual, with Keeper right behind me. Ever since the house had been trashed, he hadn't left my side. Of course, he didn't wanna leave the kittens' sides either, so I had a cat carrier with two very hyper kittens in it. I let them loose when we got in the clinic, and they started wreaking mayhem on my chairs. Keeper sat by the door, watchful as always.

Mark showed up for work and played with the kittens instead, "I had to walk here today," he told me ruefully, holding the paws of one of the kittens and dancing with it.

I laughed, "Car didn't start? What a surprise!" I dodged the pen he threw at me, "Missed me!"

He mock-growled at me, "Shut up! It's not my fault mom says the car is my responsibility, so I have to pay for it myself. If you paid me a little more..." he trailed off, raising his eyebrows at me.

I smirked, "I'm not giving you a raise, so keep dreaming. And get to work."

He pouted as he left the kittens and started sweeping. Then Cheyenne bounced in, cheerful as ever. It made me smile to see her. It was so nice to be back.

"Morning, boss!" Cheyenne chirped, plopping into her chair, "Ooh! Hello, Butterfly! Oh, no, dear. Don't bite that-that's my foot!"

"Teach you to wear flip-flops in autumn," I muttered, going back to the file I was looking over. It was about a dog that had heart worms. He would be coming in today, and we would do the procedure that got rid of the mature worms. We'd have to give him pills after that to kill the eggs...

I was drawn out of my thoughts by the door opening again. Melissa came in, a dreamy look on her face. Cheyenne looked up from where she was trying to unhook one of Raven's claws from her skirt.

"Derek give you a lift here?" Cheyenne asked knowingly, waggling her eyebrows.

Missy nodded, still in Derek land, "I love him so much..." she sighed. I pretended to throw up. She glared at me, "Whatever you think, Kare, you still have to be my maid of honor!"

I blanched, "I thought that was voluntary!" Cheyenne and Missy traded sly looks.

"Oh, honey, don't you know that nothing's voluntary with us?" Cheyenne tsked.

I started sweating, "B-but! This is Tennessee! The Volunteer State! Everything's voluntary... it's a free country...?" With each excuse, they looked more and more like foxes in the henhouse. Was that a feather at the corner of Missy's mouth?

I gave up, "When's the rehearsal, and what am I wearing?" I sighed in defeat.

Missy and Cheyenne did a happy dance, "Yay, yay, yay!" they crowed, dragging me into their frolicking dance. I groaned, which caused Keeper to glance away from the door to see what was wrong. I waved away his concern. There was nothing he could do about this problem.

Missy finally answered my question, "The rehearsal's two days from now, and the wedding's the day after that! Ooh, I'm so glad you agreed to be my maid of honor!" more jumping and squealing followed. I attempted to scramble away and was again saved by a patient.

Keeper gave a bark as the door opened to admit our first patient of the day, a cat and her owner. She'd gotten bitten by a raccoon, and her owner was worried about infection. There was no chance of rabies because I distinctly remember giving this cat her rabies shots two months ago. Sure enough, when I checked it out, the injury on her leg was puffy and festering. I sighed quietly. The owner should've brought her to me right after she got bitten, but, like most people who live in the county or rural areas, they thought they could take care of it themselves. It sometimes took something like an untreated wound festering to make them realize that vets are useful.

I escaped the squealing girls and went to clean the wound and get rid of the pus (ew. Major ew). I told the owner of the cat that I would need to keep her for a day or two to make sure the fever went down and the poison hadn't spread through the rest of the cat's body. The owner, very worried about the cat, agreed. They left. I turned back to the girls.

"Have you calmed down now?" I asked, scooping Raven off the floor.

Cheyenne was sitting at her desk, "Girl, we're never calm."

"Amen to that!" Missy crowed from where she was cleaning the tools I'd used.

And I had to laugh, because despite all of that, I was so happy to be back with my crazy friends. Which reminded me.

"Hey, where's Mark?" I asked, looking around.

Cheyenne shrugged, "Last I saw, he was taking out yesterday's trash. Why?"

Missy looked up, "He has been gone a long time..."

I started getting worried. Normally, if Mark disappeared for extended lengths of time, that meant he was taking a nap somewhere, but since those... creatures, whatever they were, trashed my place, I'd been jumping at shadows and freaking out over the slightest thing. I was starting to imagine things-like the scent of blood. Was I really smelling blood? I looked at Keeper. That didn't help my nerves, because his fur was standing on end and his muzzle was wrinkled in a snarl. Crud.

"I'll go find him!" I shouted over my shoulder as I ran for the back of the clinic, where the back door was. That was where our trash went. Keeper followed. The smell of blood got stronger the closer we got to the door. I was dreading what I would see when I opened it, but I closed my eyes and let my ears tell me if there was someone on the other side of that door, just in case they were waiting to jump me. All I heard was labored breathing, an erratically thudding heart. My eyes snapped open and I yanked the door out of my way, bending it a little in the process. I gasped, my mind going blank with horror at what I saw.

Mark was draped across the hood of my car. He had been cut all over, the smooth edges of the wounds showing that a sharp knife had done the deed. He was obviously unconscious, having been tortured to within an inch of his life. I could hardly recognize him for the blood. Keeper dragged my gaze from my dying friend, trying to get me to notice something on the windshield. I slowly looked at what Keeper was pointing at and felt a numb sort of horror.

_You're next._

Those were the words written in Mark's blood on the windshield of my car. I could feel my breakfast rebelling, trying to come back up. I could smell werewolf under the blood, werewolf and something else. Something I didn't recognize. I whipped out my cellphone to call the ambulance, when I heard something that stopped my heart.

Mark's breathing stopped. His heartbeat continued for a few more seconds, and then faltered and went silent.

"No! Mark!"

-_break time_-

I stared blankly at the deathly white skin, paler than the sheets on which he lay. I saw the blood matted in his fiery red hair, the bits of blood on his face that they had missed when they hastily wiped the blood off. I could see every visible stitch they had put into his skin, the bandages on the smaller cuts. I could see the faint rise and fall of his chest, hear the comforting _beep beep beep_ of the heart monitor.

Mark lay in the hospital bed, sound asleep, as he'd been since he'd woken up in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. After I'd gotten his heart beating again and cleared the blood from his airways, the ambulance had arrived, and I'd ridden with him to the hospital for the second time in the years I'd known him. Of course, I'd cleaned the message off my car before the humans got there-I wouldn't want to get them caught up in the supernatural world. I'd already stopped most of the bleeding by the time they got there and loaded him into the ambulance. I hopped in after telling Missy and Cheyenne where I was going. I told them to keep an eye on Keeper and call Mark's mom.

So here I was, at the hospital with Mark again. It was the same hospital, too. Mark's mom was on her way, and Mark was stable. I didn't have to stay, but I did anyways, because Mark was one of my best friends. When he came around again, I would ask him what had happened, but until then, I would watch.

Someone touched my shoulder. Without thinking, I whirled, grabbing their wrist and twisting it up behind their back. I shoved the person against the wall, a growl sounding in my throat.

It was a man in a doctor's white lab coat, with a stethoscope around his neck. His hair was longish and a moderate brown, his skin lightly tanned. I couldn't see what else he looked like, but he was tall-not as tall as Everett, but tall enough (much taller than me). I would've let him go immediately, because he was a doctor, but I caught the faint scent... something half remembered. He had the same type of scent as one of the things that had wrecked my house. It wasn't an exact match, but there was something similar in his scent, as if he and one of the house-trashers lived in the same place with the same smells. My growl intensified.

"Now now, little jackal, don't be a-doin that," he mumbled, a slight accent in his voice. He had a pleasant smile on his average-looking face, "I'm just the doctor, come to check on the boy."

I laughed, and it was not a pleasant sound, "Try again. You may be working as a doctor, but that's not what you _are."_ I shoved him against the wall again for good measure, "What are you? Why are you hunting me and hurting my friends?"

He grimaced at the pain I was causing his arm, "I'm Fae," he muttered, "And I really am just a doctor. I don't know what you're talking about-I'm not hunting you."

I waited for a moment and then released him, "Fine, but there were Fae at my house, and Fae at my clinic. I didn't see em, but I smelled em. One of them smelled a lot like you." I jerked my thumb back towards Mark's still form, "It was wolves and Fae that got 'the boy,' as you called him."

He shook his head as he shook out his arm, "I really don't know anything about that. I work almost all day here-I don't go anywhere, and I definitely don't make jackals or wolves mad at me."

I grumbled as I backed away from him, "Right. Now, go ahead and do whatever you were gonna do, but make it quick. And I'm a veterinarian-if I see you doing something that doesn't have anything to do with Mark's medical needs, I will kill you."

He frowned at me and nodded, "Of course." He turned his back on me and went to check Mark's pulse, breathing, and temperature. I kept a close eye on him, making sure he didn't do anything I didn't recognize. He was true to his word, though. As soon as he was done checking on Mark, he turned back to me.

"Are you family?" he asked. I shook my head.

"His mom's on her way. We're neighbors, and he works for me," I told him, sitting down again. A wolf would never have sat down with a possible enemy standing in the same room, but then again, I wasn't a wolf, was I? Jackals, like coyotes, are very versatile, and things that would send a wolf into a murderous rage didn't bother us. "We're practically family, so if there's anything important I need to know, go ahead and tell me."

He rubbed his chin, as if he was used to a beard and hadn't realized he'd shaved it off this morning, "Well, everything seems fine. The blood loss is the only problem-we'll probably have to do a blood transfusion."

I sighed, "Anything else?" I asked, feeling defeated.

He shook his head, "That's probably about it. The blood transfusion should help get him feeling back to his old self." He looked at a clipboard at the end of Mark's bed and wrote something on it, "I'll go and see if I can find some type AB..." he muttered as he wandered out of the room, without another backwards glance at me.

I took a nap waiting for Mark's mother to get there, but I'd only dozed off for a few moments when I heard something. I opened my eyes to see Everett standing in front of me. He looked down at me with sympathy in his beautiful blue eyes. I gave him a shaky smile.

"Hey," I murmured, "What are you doing here?"

He smiled back at me, even if it was a small smile, "Are you kidding? It's all over the news that a kid got mugged in the parking lot of a local animal clinic. Wind Chime Animal Clinic, to be exact. They said the kid was a boy, so I knew it wasn't you, but still, I was worried." He shrugged, "I stopped by the clinic first, and Missy told me what happened. I got a good sniff around, and I scented at least two werewolves and one Fae."

I ran my fingers through my hair and winced when I snagged a tangle, "There was a message written on my car in Mark's blood-'You're next' it said."

His expression hardened and his muscles tensed, like he was going to spring at something and tear it apart. I understood the feeling. "I'll check into it," he said darkly. "It's most likely the same ones who went through your house."

I nodded, "I recognized a couple of the scents. If I ever smell them again, I'll know." I tapped the side of my nose.

He nodded and looked around. His gaze softened when he saw Mark lying still and pale on the hospital bed, but he didn't seem to find whatever he was looking for in the room. He turned back to me, a question in his eyes.

"Where's your dog? I don't think I've ever seen you without him," he chuckled, "Not even that first night we met. He's the one who got my leg, if I remember correctly."

I laughed quietly, "Yeah, Keeper's the best. He's been with me forever." I looked at him oddly, "Hey, you said you went by the clinic, right? Keeper couldn't come in the ambulance, so I left him there. Didn't you see him?"

Everett frowned, "No, I didn't. I was outside and inside the clinic, but I didn't see hide nor hair of him. Why? Is that bad?"

I lowered my face into my hands, "Why is this happening to me?" I moaned, the words muffled by my hands. I felt Everett's hand gently patting my shoulder.

"I'll go back and look for him," he said gently, "I'll make sure he's safe."

I looked up at him with a tentative smile on my face, "Wait a few more minutes and I'll go with you. Mark's mom should be here soon." He nodded and sat down next to me, in the only other chair (the non-reclining one). We settled into comfortable silence-I think I fell asleep again, because the next thing I heard was crying, and I had a feeling, even before I opened my eyes, that Everett wouldn't cry over much-maybe not anything. I blinked and saw Mrs. Abernathy, Mark's mom, holding her son's hand and crying her eyes out. I hopped up.

"Mrs. Abernathy," I said softly, "The doctor says he's going to be fine, but he might need a blood transfusion. He lost a lot of blood."

Everett politely stood and nodded to Mrs. Abernathy. He didn't say anything to the crying mother, which was probably a good thing. She couldn't have answered him for the life of her. I laid a gentle hand on her shoulder and kneaded the tight muscles there. She relaxed a bit.

"There's an emergency at the clinic, so I have to go, but I was waiting for you to get here to stay with him before I left. Do you have someone to pick up Susan and stay with her?" I asked in that same soft, soothing voice. Susan was Mark's younger sister. He also had an older sister named Ashley, who was in college now. Their father had been in the marines, and was killed in combat six years back, right after Susan was born.

Mrs. Abernathy nodded, "Thank you, Karissa..." she sniffled, "Go on. I'll stay with him."

I nodded and motioned for Everett to follow me. We rode the elevator down in silence. He led me to his (very nice) car and opened the door for me. I got in without complaining that I could open my own dang door, which I would have done without a doubt if Mark hadn't been hurt. Everett went around the back of the car and got in on his side. After he had started the car, he finally spoke.

"You really care about that kid and his family, huh?" he asked quietly, smiling at me, "Even though you try to act like you don't care about anything, you're not hiding it very well-at least not to someone who cares to look for it."

I smirked at him, "Do you care enough to look for it?" I asked slyly, leaning back in the soft leather seats.

He laughed, but didn't answer me. By that time we had reached the clinic (it wasn't too far away from the hospital, thank goodness). Just to humor him, I waited for him to open my door for me before I got out. I grinned at him, but then I looked around the deserted parking lot. The police had confiscated my car, calling it "evidence," which I could perfectly understand (seeing as I watched so many CSI shows), but it was extremely inconvenient. I guess I would just have to talk Everett into taking me everywhere in his (really nice) car. That probably wouldn't be too hard. Werewolves are very protective. Knowing him, he'd probably give me an armed escort. I snorted, and he looked at me oddly.

"What's so funny?" he asked, frowning. I laughed again, shaking my head.

"Let's get to work. I'll take the side door, you take back, okay?" I didn't give him a chance to argue, heading for the side door as I was talking. He snorted and went to sniff around the back door.

I started stripping as I got to the bushes by the side of the clinic. I had a good nose in my human form, but my jackal's nose was ten times better. Soon, I was on four paws instead of two feet, my cold black nose busily sniffing around the side of the building. I caught a stale bit of Keeper's scent, nothing fresh enough for him to have left earlier in the day. I gave up and went back around to the back to see if Everett had found anything. He grinned when he saw me in jackal form.

"I've only seen you like that once, and you were a little... um, injured that time," he explained, "You're kinda cute in this form."

I sniffed daintily, sitting and curling my tail around my paws. I yipped and nodded towards the back door. Had he found anything?

He knew what I meant. He shook his head, "I didn't smell him around the back, not a whiff."

I tipped my head to the side. That was odd. Keeper had been out here with me just an hour ago. His scent should be around here, even if it was a little old. I moved towards the door and sniffed. Everett was right-I couldn't catch any of Keeper's scent. How weird. I widened my search, going into the trees that lined the parking lot. Still no scent. None at all-not even the smell of the mulch in this particular bit of ground. It was as if something had come through and erased all the smells in a straight line from the back door. I flattened my ears. Something was wrong.

Everett had followed me, "That's strange," he said, voicing my thoughts, "There's no scent here."

I followed the strange, scentless trail farther. It continued across the street and into the yards of the houses across the road, but after I got behind the house, Keeper's scent suddenly reappeared again. I yipped to Everett, who had gone back to get my clothes. He jogged around the side of the house with my bag, my clothes stuffed inside. I pawed at a tree trunk, where Keeper had brushed against the bark. Everett started to lean down to sniff it, but stopped. He sniffed farther up the tree.

"His scent is up here too," he told me, standing on his toes to sniff higher, "It stops about as high as I am tall," he murmured. "This just gets weirder and weirder."

I whined, pawing at his leg. He leaned down and scratched me behind the ears.

"I know you're worried, and you want to find him, but there's no other scent with his. I think he left of his own will. He'll probably come back on his own."

I sighed and started back towards the clinic. As I took my clothes from him and changed back, I reasoned with myself. Keeper would come back. He had to. He had always come back before, right? The only problem with that was that he had never wandered off before. There had never been any reason for him to come back, if he never left. I had a bad feeling about this.

I was beginning to have a bad feeling about a lot of things.

-_break time_-

Two days later, and the rehearsal for Missy and Derek's wedding was set to go as usual. For the rehearsal, they weren't making me wear my poofy dress, but I was still in a bad mood. Mark, who had gotten out of the hospital yesterday and was convalescing at home, escaped the craziness of my friends during a wedding rehearsal. They played pranks on each other, played the Darth Vader music instead of the bridal march... it was complete chaos. But that wasn't even the craziest part.

Everett was the best man.

I'd walked in and spotted him. I smiled and waved, glad that someone else was going to have to go through this torture with me.

"Hey, Everett!" I'd said, "It's good to see you! Who dragged you into this mess? I didn't know you knew Missy."

He shook his head, "I don't, but I know the groom. He's my great nephew."

I'm sure my jaw dropped a couple of feet, "Say _what?"_

He laughed at my expression, "Yeah. I moved up here to be closer to him and my family. I'm going to be best man in the wedding." He looked behind me, "I see you found Keeper."

Indeed, Keeper had come back the next day. He was still pouting because I'd gotten mad at him (after I'd cried tears of relief). He'd been back with me ever since, not leaving my side like usual. It was as if he'd never left.

"Don't change the subject!" I growled, "I didn't know you had a nephew, much less a great one! How come I've been designated the maid of honor for this wedding, and I didn't know you'd be in it, much less that you were related to the guy my employee was going to marry?" I admit, by this time, I was shouting.

He stared at me, "Wait, you're the maid of honor?"

I also admit that at this point in our wonderful conversation, I just shrieked in frustration and stomped off. I'm not one for talking when I'm confused and mad.

But back to the rehearsal... It went well (after everybody got the pranks and the silliness out of their systems), and I found that my job was not extremely hard. I had to make sure that Missy's dress was perfectly arranged and hold her bouquet as well as mine. And... oh yeah, I had to walk arm in arm with Everett as we left the chapel. Not that bad, because I'm sure he looked good in a suit, but I was starting to feel nervous around him. I'm not nervous around anybody or anything, so this was new territory for me. I tried to just ignore it and avoid him as much as possible, but he seemed to have the ability to appear in the places I was. Dang it.

I practically ran out of there when we finished rehearsal. Keeper trotted beside me, a distracted look on his face. I had never known him to be so distant-ever since Mark had gotten hurt and Keeper had disappeared for a day, he'd hardly stopped pacing. I didn't know what was wrong, but it was starting to bother me. I reached down and ruffled his furry ears, trying to draw his attention from whatever thoughts were going through his doggy mind.

He jerked as if startled and looked up at me, his bright brown eyes confused. I smiled, "What's up, Keeper? You've been awfully quiet lately."

He shook his head, making his ears flap around wildly. I laughed and scratched under his collar, "Good boy. Let's go home."

-_break time_-

I didn't even make it home. I knew something was wrong the second I turned off the heavily populated roads and the car that had been behind me since just after I left the wedding rehearsal turned off to follow me. It was a nondescript black car-I couldn't even tell what kind it was. It was late, because there had been an after-rehearsal party that my "friends" had forced me to attend (despite my attempts to flee). There shouldn't be any other cars out here this late.

If I was worried that someone was following me, I was even more worried when said car started accelerating. I put my foot on the gas pedal, but my poor hand-me-down car couldn't handle it. Keeper was growling from the passenger seat, his eyes trained on the side-view mirror, watching the car that was steadily getting closer with every passing moment. Soon, the car was close enough to pull up beside me. Without warning, it rammed into the side of my car, making me swerve. I fought to keep the car on the road, but that was a battle already lost. The passenger window of the other car rolled down to reveal the lengthened barrel of a handgun with a silencer attached. I snarled wordlessly at the face of the man inside the car-the blank, emotionless face of a man who killed for a living. I saw his finger pull the trigger, heard the shot, saw the blood spray from my arms. My hands went numb-I couldn't feel the wheel. The car swerved wildly, almost going off the road.

Keeper leaned over and closed his teeth on the wheel. He kept the car straight, kept us from wrecking. He tried so hard, but then I heard another shot. Keeper yelped and fell back against the car door. His collar caught on the old-fashioned latch that opened the door, and as he struggled to get up, the door opened. He howled as he fell out of the car and hit the pavement. I heard a whine as he skidded, the harsh asphalt tearing his skin. Then I heard no more. I was once again speeding out of control with no one to save me. Everett had no idea what was happening; Keeper was probably dead. No one would ever know what happened. Everett would suspect, but he wouldn't be able to prove it. I would die without ever seeing any of my friends or family again.

No. _Hell no._

I forced my hands to grip the steering wheel and swerved into the other car. I roared as I tore my seatbelt and hurled myself through my window and into the killer's car. My scalp, my neck and shoulders were sliced by the glass I forced myself through. The pain didn't even register amidst my overwhelming grief for Keeper-for everyone.

I managed to gouge one of his unblinking eyes before he shot me again, point blank in the chest. I hit the roof of the car, and everything went dark.

-_break time_-

Roaring. A machine rumbling. The floor beneath me cold and rocking back and forth. That sound-I knew that sound. The sound of a plane engine as it took off. Planes. I hated planes. I liked the ground.

Pain in my chest, an ache. Bandages on my arms. Where was I? What happened? The last thing I remembered...

Keeper.

The growl rose in my throat. There was a noise from nearby, the sound of someone sighing. I tried to open my eyes, to raise my head, but I was just so tired. The pain was too much. Where was Keeper? He couldn't be dead. He couldn't! I finally managed to open my eyes. I glared blearily at the man who sat near where I lay on the floor of the plane. He had a gun trained on me, but it wasn't the same guy that had shot me. I was surprised I had survived that-I was so sure I was dead.

"Where are we going?" I asked the guy, my guard, apparently. He didn't say anything, just kicked my face. I heard a pop, then a loud crack as my jaw broke. I grunted. Bastard. There were easier ways to shut me up. A gag was high on my easy-ways-to-silence list. Hadn't this idiot ever heard of a gag?

Okay, so they didn't want me asking questions. That was fine. I could wait. They could only keep me quiet for so long. I could already feel my jaw healing. Until I could talk again, maybe I should try unnerving the guard. People always said that my eyes were unnerving-the oddly pale blue eye and the night dark eye. Hopefully, it would work on this guy.

While I stared at him, I tested the binding that held my arms together. Silver chains. I could feel a slight warmth from the silver, but it had never bothered me like it apparently did werewolves. I still couldn't seem to break it-couldn't get enough leverage. Same for my feet. They had even put a collar around my neck. The chain attached to that was hooked into the wall of the plane. I wouldn't be getting out until they unhooked me. When we landed, I would make a break for it.

It seemed that I wouldn't have that opportunity. Just a few minutes later, a man in a suit walked into our little compartment of the plane. He glanced at me before looking at my guard.

"She's awake?" he asked in a gruff, thickly accented voice. He sounded Middle-Eastern, or maybe Russian. My guard nodded. The new guy leaned over me and laughed when I spit blood in his face, "Feisty. I like."

"Pig!" I tried to say, but my still-broken jaw protested, and it came out more like, "Mig!" The man stared at me blankly.

"She speaks oddly. Is it different language?" he asked my guard. My guard had the good sense to look sheepish.

"Jaw broke," he mumbled. I growled when the other man laughed.

"Too talky for you, eh?" he laughed, "Good thing she heals, fast, yes? We ask questions, she has to answer."

A voice crackled over the intercom. It was in a different language, so I had no idea what it was saying, but my guard and the other guy seemed pleased. The second guy grinned at me, showing teeth that were bright against his dark, lined skin. I glared at him, hating him even more. Come down here, stupid man, and I would show you that a jackal can bite.

"We landing," he chuckled, walking towards the door he'd come in by. "Hope you enjoyed trip."

They untied me, but instead of just dragging me along, like I'd hoped they would, they threw me in a crate and loaded me onto a forklift. I was then loaded into what felt like a truck, which proceeded to bump along a road that was in very great need of new pavement. I hit my head a few times and reopened my wounds, jarred my jaw a bit. I was stuck in there for hours. By the time the truck skidded and bumped to a stop, I was mad as a hornet in a jar. That had been shook up. REPEATEDLY. When they opened the crate, I came out hissing and spitting. All I got for my trouble was a big hunk of cloth in my mouth. And a club to the head.

But before that, all I saw was sand. Sand, sand, and more sand. And a whole bunch of dark skinned guys with goatees and flowing robes and machine guns. All aimed at me. I saw all of this, and only one thought went through my head before they clubbed me and everything went dark again (this is happening way too frequently).

_Toto, we are __**so**__ not in Kansas anymore._

**CrazyCross:** So? What did you think? I love cliffhangers, but I'm sure you guys hate me for it! Hahaha!  
**Karissa:** Oh, you think _they_ hate you? You have not seen hate, you babbling idiot!  
**CrazyCross:** I know, I know... I am being a little mean to you... but, oh well! The drama is what makes it hard for people to stop reading! Well, make sure to _**REVIEW**_! _**10 MORE REVIEWS**_, remember? Okay, guys! That's all for now! *looks at Karissa* Um, Kare? What are you doing? Why are you holding that rope? Hey, don't come any closer! Augh!  
**Karissa:** Oh, you shall die slowly, you fool... you should know better than to mess with me and the people I care about! Mwahahahahaha! *looks at imaginary audience* Leave now. I have things to do.


	5. Chapter Five

_**N/A:** Bonjour! I have returned from the dead to finally give you this long-awaited chapter of Karissa's life! I know it took a while, but I really wanted to get a lot more drama and action in! Oh, and sorry... but, I put a lot of blood and gore in, and I ended it with another cliffhanger *defends head from rotten vegetables thrown by readers* sorry!_  
**Karissa:** Oh, yeah, I'm sure you're sorry... but you're going to be MORE SORRY, YOU TWIT! *tackles*  
**CrazyCross:** Augh! I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY!  
**Karissa:** You guys, she wants _**10 MORE REVIEWS**_ before she'll put up another chapter, but it'll probably be days after you give her 10 REVIEWS that she finally gets her butt off the couch and puts it up! *punches author*  
**CrazyCross:** I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY!  
**Karissa:** *sits on her* Just read, and _**REVIEW!**_

**CHAPTER FIVE**

This time, when I came to, I was in a tent. My guard was still there, as silent and forbidding as ever. I don't know if he noticed that I was awake, but I didn't plan on advertising it with a neon billboard. Thank you very much. I decided that, while he was facing away from me, I would have a look around. The tent was very sparse, with only a blanket draped across the canvas floor to make it less scratchy. Thankfully, I was mostly on that blanket. Also, my clothes had been changed. I now wore the flowing robes that all of the others (including my guard, I now saw) wore. I briefly wondered who had changed my clothes, but I decided that I had more important things to think about. Such as how I was going to get out of here.

I had a splitting headache, which I had never had before. Generally, I didn't get sick. No aches and pains unless another caused it, either. Normally, life as a werejackal was pretty sweet. Apparently, my super immune system can't stand up to being kicked in the head and hit with what felt like a baseball bat. These guys obviously didn't care if I was damaged (in the head), so I guess they weren't using me as a hostage. They would take better care of a hostage, right? I sure hoped so.

The guy who had originally been in the suit (he was now dressed in high desert fashion) walked into the tent. He spotted me staring at him over the guard's shoulder and smiled. It was not a friendly smile.

"I see girl is awake," he chuckled sinisterly. "Good. Now we...talk."

Right. I am so certain that "talking" is the only thing on your mind. Sicko.

Thankfully, I was saved by a commotion outside. I heard a lot of shouting in a different language, and a man stuck his head into the tent. He was one I hadn't seen before. He said something to the sicko in the same language they were using outside. Sicko seemed to find this very tiring, if the way he sighed and ran his hand through his beard was any meaning. He turned to my guard and said something in that same language before switching to English, obviously for my benefit.

"Go ahead and start questioning without me, Idesh," he murmured, grinning at me. He left to deal with whatever was going on outside.

I looked at Idesh. He looked at me, but there was no malice in his eyes. While he had kept his eyes emotionless since I had met him, now there was sympathy there. Then he spoke in a language that I had never heard anybody speak to me before. My native tongue, the language that I had taught myself after I found out that I was from Egypt. The language that I had learned to feel closer to the birth mother I had never known. (**N/A:** Okay, folks, from now on, if it's in _italics_, then it's _Egyptian._ If it's in normal type, then it's English.)

"_I heard about how hard you fought to save your friend,_" he murmured, "_That was very brave, and we thank you_."

I frowned and replied in the same language, "_What are you talking about_?"

He shook his head, "_I cannot say for now, but rest assured, we will get you out of here. Just give us a little more time_."

I tipped my head to the side, "_So that noise outside..._?"

He nodded, "_Our people, giving me a chance to explain to you. I will be your permanent guard because Ahnoon trusts me, but for now, we can do no more than that_."

"_Ahnoon_?" I asked, "_Is that the guy who was just in here_?"

"_Yes_," he sighed, "_I will try to keep him away from you, but he will suspect something eventually. Hopefully, we can get you out of here before then_."

I locked eyes with him, and he immediately lowered his gaze, "_Are you all werewolves_?" I asked.

He nodded, still not looking at me, "_This is Ahnoon's pack. I am the only one on the inside, but I am not pack. I am a mercenary he hires for this sort of thing, because he cannot trust any of his wolves with you_."

I bared my teeth at the thought of what Ahnoon's wolves would do to me, "_What do they want me for_?" I growled.

He looked surprised, "_They are looking for your father, of course_."

Well, shoot. This was all good ol' daddy's fault.

Figures.

_-BREAK TIME, FOLKS-_

Five days and three torture sessions later, I was not in the best shape. Idesh had tried to keep Ahnoon from hurting me very much, but he couldn't do anything to draw too much suspicion to himself. He was positive that they weren't going to kill me-they thought they needed me to find my father. Idesh's life was... a little more dispensable, according to Ahnoon and his pack. I understood completely-I'd come to really like Idesh in the short time I'd known him. That first night, he apologized for breaking my jaw (apparently, he didn't want me to make Ahnoon angry at me before we'd even made it to the camp). I forgave him graciously, that being the kind of person I am (not). But I made an exception for him. He really did keep Ahnoon and his goons from having their way with me, for which I was very grateful.

I had just gone through another one of Ahnoon's "talking sessions" when Idesh came back into my tent. He had an excited look on his face. I tried to lift myself from the pool of my blood on the floor to ask him what was up, but decided that if it was important enough, he would tell me without me having to work up the energy to say anything. I couldn't even raise an eyebrow at him, that's how tired I was...

He didn't disappoint, "_We are getting you out today! There will be another commotion later, and I will get attacked by the enemy. You will escape while I am fighting_."

I managed to croak a bit, "_Where am I supposed to go_?" I asked.

He started pacing, which he only did when he was excited, "_All you have to do is escape into the desert and make sure you're not being followed. You'll have to go in your jackal shape, because the desert can get cold at night, but one of us will find you and escort you to our camp_." He laughed quietly, "_This is going to go well! I can feel it_!"

I curled into a ball and didn't answer. It was odd, but I didn't feel comforted by his excitement. Call it a premonition, call it instinct, call it whatever you want, but I just didn't feel right about what was supposed to be happening later that night. I had a strange, definitely non-comforting feeling that everything was going to go horribly wrong.

Sometimes I hate it when I'm right.

_-BREEEEEEEAAAAAAAK-_

"_Karissa, wake up. It's time_," Idesh whispered. I sat up, groggy, but mostly healed from my rough treatment earlier. I scooted to the back of the tent, where we had made a small hole, big enough for my jackal form. I would escape out the back while he fought with one of the "attackers" and accidentally allowed me to escape. You know, because he was so injured and all. We heard the signal.

_**Aroooooo!**_

"_Go, Karissa_!" Idesh growled in excitement, "_Go safely and swiftly_!" He threw himself outside the tent while I stripped. Within a heartbeat, I was in my jackal form and scrambling through the hole. I slid down the hill of sand the tent was on, my paws not used to the slippery feel of the sand between my furry toes. I lost my balance and tumbled down the hill, landing in a heap at the bottom. I tried to get to my paws, but was pushed down by a sandaled foot. I looked up into the face of one of Ahnoon's goons (hah, that rhymed!). I growled.

"Escape?" he grunted in broken English, and then laughed, "Me too! Gahahaha!" He leered at me, "Now, I think Ahnoon be glad with me if I bring back jackal. Maybe play with you first..."

Suddenly, a man burst out of the darkness that surrounded us. I didn't recognize him, and my nose was too full of sand and werewolf stink to be able to tell if I knew his scent from anywhere. He had long, sleek black hair pulled back and braided with gold thread woven throughout his hair. His skin was desert dark, like a native, but smoother, unlined. It was angular, similar in shape to mine (except more manly). His eyes were dark, I couldn't tell the color without a light, and not even the moon was out. Only my night vision allowed me to see what little I did see of him. As he knocked the werewolf to the ground, a wickedly curved knife at his throat, I was thrown free. I landed on my paws and turned, prepared to attack and take on both of them. The second man waved me on, meanwhile dodging a kick from the angry werewolf.

"_Keep going! I'll take care of him and catch up_!" he growled in perfect Egyptian.

I bobbed my head and took off, finally getting the hang of running on sand. It was in my blood, I suppose. I could still hear the howls and screams from the camp. I hoped Idesh was all right-I would feel bad if something happened to him when he was trying to save me.

I tripped over a rock half-buried in the sand. I had to force myself to pay attention to where I was putting my paws. It wouldn't be good for me to escape only to fall into a-

Right as I was thinking that, I tripped over the lip of a hole just a bit bigger than me. I stumbled into it, scrambling wildly to try and hold on to the sandy edge. I couldn't get a good purchase with my claws, and into the hole I fell. I felt strangely like Alice in Wonderland, though I wasn't chasing any white rabbit in funny clothes and a pocket watch. Hah, that might have been worth it to fall down this hole and crack my skull against the rocky bottom. I could've stolen his pocket watch before I lost consciousness. I've always wanted a pocket watch...

_-WHO'S A GOOD BREAK TIME? YOU ARE!-_

My first sight when I woke up was a pretty young girl crouched in front of me. She was wearing a sparkly dress that looked like the dresses Missy liked to wear. Which reminded me-I missed the wedding. I had a moment of giddiness. I didn't have to wear a floor length dress that cost a month's pay and walk arm-in-arm with Everett. I giggled, which made the girl crouched in front of me grin. She probably grinned because my giggle came out sounding more like I was having an asthma attack. That was when I realized-I was still in my jackal form. Why had I fallen asleep in my jackal form? Where was Idesh?

Then I remembered-I escaped last night, and then I fell down a hole. Now the question was, why was this girl in the hole with me? I studied her a bit more, trying to decide if she was a hallucination or real.

She had long, golden brown hair that was the exact color of the sand. Her eyes were vivid green, brighter than emeralds. She seemed lanky, her legs long and slender. She was really pretty, and her skin was tanned and smooth. She smiled at me, her perfect lips parting to reveal bright white teeth.

"_Hi there! I'm glad you're finally awake_!" she said in Egyptian. It was surprising to me how many people knew my native language. She continued to talk to me, "_I'm glad that someone else fell into the rainwater hole! It makes me feel better, even though I'm sure your head isn't thanking you right now_!" she giggled, "_At least you had the excuse of falling into it when it was dark! I tripped and fell in when it was the middle of the day! Hahaha_!"

I stared at her, deciding that she was a hallucination. No way would this bubbly girl be underground talking about how she fell into a hole that was barely big enough for me in jackal form, much less a girl that was bigger than my human form. Though she was very skinny... maybe she had squeezed in? Wait-hallucination. Not real girl. I must've hit my head harder than I thought...

"_Of course_," she continued, not knowing about my inner turmoil, "_I broke my arm-well, my wrist-and I had to go into the city to get a cast! Then I couldn't shape-shift for weeks! I'm pretty sure that when I found you, you had a broken arm and a fractured skull, so I didn't move you, but when I went to get the elders, they said that you would heal by yourself, and I was so shocked when you did! It was so cool watching your skin heal in minutes! I thought only werewolves did that... Oh, hey! You're shifting! Wow, yours looks cooler than mine! You're so awesome! Let's be friends_!"

"_Who the heck are you_?" I growled when I had a human mouth.

"_Ooh! You speak Egyptian! I knew you would! I told the elders so, but no one ever listens to me..._"

"_Shut up_!" I yelled. She went silent, an excited look on her pretty face. I took a deep breath, "_Who are you, and where am I_?" I asked in a calm voice.

She gave a little bounce and fell over, obviously having forgotten that she was crouched beside me. She giggled, "_My name is Kah! It means 'grace' in the old tongue! Grace as in mercy, not grace as in graceful! I'm obviously not very graceful_!" she laughed hysterically, rolling around on the sandy floor. I was pretty sure that wouldn't be good for her dress. She finally calmed down, not at all enough, in my opinion, but calm enough to talk again, "_You're in our rainwater collecting hole! This is where we get our extra water! During the dry season, though, we just buy huge jugs of water from the city_!"

I heard the sound of footsteps from behind her and looked up into the face of a motherly woman. She looked a few years older than I looked, but there was the feeling of age around her. Her hair was darker than the giggler's, but straight. She was shorter, petit. She smiled when she saw me.

"_Ah, good. You're awake. Do you speak Egyptian_?" she asked.

I noticed that she was carrying a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. I could've kissed her, "_Yes, I do. Where am I_?"

She eyed Kah, "_Kah, I told you to explain to her when she woke up. Have you been talking her ear off_?"

Kah giggled, "_Maaaaybe..._."

The woman sighed, "_I'm so sorry, miss. Kah here means well, but she often loses track of what's more important_." She handed me the clothes, "_Welcome to the Desert Dwelling. I am Grypha, one of the elders of the Desert Dwellers. What is your name_?"

I pulled on the baggy t-shirt and shimmied into the jeans, "_My name is Karissa_," I left off my last name, since the others hadn't said anything about that either. Kah squealed with excitement.

"_It is just as Mother Kirillah said_!" Kah exclaimed with glee, clapping her hands. Grypha smiled at her.

"_I suppose it is time for you to leave home, and I'm sure Karissa will take good care of you_," she said, and turned to me. "_I'm sorry! I'm sure you have no idea what we're talking about_."

I shook my head, "_No idea, but I'm getting kind of used to that now_."

She laughed quietly, "_Our Farseer prophesied that the daughter of the one who saved us would come and guide the orphan to her true love_."

I tipped my head to the side, even more confused than I'd been a minute ago. She seemed to realize this.

"_Dear child, there is only one odd-eyed jackal with the name 'Karissa,' and she is the daughter of Raphael, the oldest werewolf in the world, and the most powerful. More than three decades ago, he fell in love with one of the jackal women who lived in our community. When she found she was with child, she fled to the United States to hide from Raphael's enemies_," she stroked my cheek gently, "_Your mother-how is she_?"

I looked down, trying to take all of this in, "_She died shortly after I was born_," I said in a voice that sounded distant to my ears. "_I don't remember her. She left me at an orphanage in North Carolina when I was just a baby. She was killed days afterward by werewolves_."

Grypha gasped, her hand going to her heart, "_We were wondering why we hadn't heard from her. She sent us a message telling us that she had reached America, but we didn't get any more after that_," she looked like she was holding back tears, "_Oh, poor Mira... Poor Raphael! I'm sure he doesn't know..._"

Kah actually seemed to be focused for the first time since I'd met her, "_If you don't remember your mother, then what are you doing here_?" she asked, her voice subdued. I suppose she knew my mother as well.

"_I was kidnapped by a pack of wolves. Their leader's name is Ahnoon_."

Kah gasped, "_He is the greatest of Raphael's enemies, but he has not attacked us in a decade or more! How long has it been, Grypha_?"

The older woman sighed and wiped a tear from her eye, "_Well, the last time he attacked was... just after Mira left. Oh! He must've been the one that killed_-" she gasped, and her motherly face twisted into a snarl. "_That bastard! He will pay for what he has done_!" She looked at me, "_You must be so weary, child. Let's go back to the Dwelling and rest. All will be explained-as much as we know_."

_-BREAK BREAK BREAK-_

Hours later, sitting in Grypha's cave-house, my mind was still reeling from what they had told me. Apparently, my father was one of the world's first werewolves. He was originally from Europe, near Greece. He lived for thousands of years before he left Europe and came to Africa. He found a group of shape-shifters trying to survive in the desert while being constantly attacked and killed by werewolves. He drove off the wolves and made a home for these shape-shifters-the Desert Dwelling. They had lived there ever since, with him staying nearby to keep the wolves away. On one of his routine trips to visit the shape-shifters, he met a new arrival, a jackal shape-shifter who caught his attention. He started visiting more often. It turned out he had fallen in love with the jackal woman-and she with him. They had just been married a few weeks when he disappeared. All of the Desert Dwellers were in an uproar. What would happen to them if they didn't have their protector? Not long after that, they were attacked by Ahnoon and his pack, losing several of their people. My mother, Mira, had survived, and afterwards found out that she was with child. Soon she started showing-everybody knew that she would have a baby, which meant that soon, all of Raphael's enemies would know. They would hurt her, hurt the baby, to get to Raphael, who was still missing. And so she fled to America to save me, and in the end was killed while trying to protect me.

Yeah, my life was shadowed, to say the least.

My father, they told me, was still missing. The werewolves had apparently been trying to flush him out by using me as bait. It hadn't appeared to work, but my father's friends had helped me escape. Apparently, my father had almost as many friends as he had enemies-a lot.

"_So the reason I'm so dominant is_..." I thought aloud.

"-_because your father is very dominant_," Grypha finished for me. She nodded, "_He walked into a room and everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at him. The only person that didn't pay much attention to him was your mother_." Grypha laughed softly, her eyes distant, lost in memories.

"_So maybe I got it from my mother too_?" I asked, curious. "_If she didn't even notice him, then maybe she was dominant too_?"

Grypha shook her head, "_There's really no dominance among those who are not werewolves. Sure, we don't openly challenge werewolves-or other supernatural creatures that are stronger than us. We're not stupid. Or suicidal_." She chuckled, "_You're mother wasn't necessarily stupid, but I'm not sure about suicidal. She was a stubborn girl, made wise beyond her years by the loss of her family. She had learned to take care of herself, and didn't look kindly on sympathy or pity. Your father, being very, very old, knew about loss. He didn't show sympathy or pity, but understanding. In the end, this is what drew your mother to him_."

I listened to this with interest. I had wondered, after they told me how powerful my father was, why he had taken the time to even notice a little jackal. The thought made me think of Everett. I wondered what he was thinking about right now. Most people probably thought I was dead-the blood in my car and the fact that the car had wrecked. Idesh had told me about Ahnoon's plan to set my car on fire to make it look like I had been knocked out by the crash and then burned to almost nothing by the flames. I hoped that the wolves wouldn't fall for it, but I had a feeling that if I ever got home, I would have a lot of explaining to do for my human friends. It brought tears to my eyes whenever I thought of Keeper. I could still hear his howl of agony as he fell from my car, the heart-wrenching whine as he hit the ground and skidded along the rough asphalt.

The others noticed my tear-filled eyes. Kah gripped my hand, her eyes somber and understanding. Grypha gave me a sad smile.

"_I am sorry to send you on so soon, but you must be on your way. If you ever want to get home again, you must find the camp of Raphael's followers. It is near to Egypt, not more than a couple day's run from here. You may have to slow down a bit for Kah, but she will not hold you back much_," she smiled fondly at the girl. "_I am sure she will not be back for a while, so I will allow her to say her goodbyes while I pack a small bag for you to carry. It will hold clothes and water for both of you. Karissa, you will have to carry it. Kah is only a fox, not as large as the jackal-wolf hybrid you are_."

"_I'll carry it_," I told her agreeably. Kah hugged me and bounced off. I gazed after her, my thoughts on my father. How could he have just up and disappeared? Werewolves were pretty good at hiding-as any supernatural creature feared by humans has to be-but they couldn't vanish into thin air. I grinned smugly to myself. No one could hide when a determined jackal was looking for them.

"_Good_," Grypha nodded, "Now, time to pack."

I helped her do so, but it really didn't need two people-all she packed was some water and a change of clothes. I asked about food, and she looked at me funny.

"_If you get hungry, you'll hunt_," she finally said, slowly, as if she were trying to explain to a young child. "_There's no need to weigh you down with a bunch of preprepared food_."

I shrugged, "_That's fine. I like to hunt_." It was true-I hadn't just moved to Tennessee for the college. There was a lot of woodland in Tennessee, and plenty of open fields. Good hunting for a coyote, fox, or jackal. I felt sorry for the rabbits and field mice when I was back in human form, but when I was the jackal, it was just food. As long as I was going to be jackal, it would be fine.

That was when Kah returned, her eyes a little red from crying. She sniffed and smiled at me, "_Ready to go_?"

I nodded, "_Let's head out_."

_-I LOVE BREAK TIME, YES I DO-_

The desert sun was boiling down on my back, but my fur absorbed the most of the heat, and the pack I carried was in the way of the direct sunlight as well. Poor Kah, though, was panting hard, her adorable, huge ears droopy. We had already stopped to give her water a couple of times, and we hadn't even been gone from the caves long. I was just about to suggest another stop when I spotted movement out of the corner of my eye. Without thinking, I sprang sideways and landed on the back of the large, bony desert hare that had just ventured out of its den. I snapped its neck with a quick jerk of my head. Kah wandered over to see what I was doing and yipped in congratulations when she saw the hare. I tore open the hide for her to eat and then wiggled till I got the pack off of my back. I shifted, pulling the water bottle out of the bag.

"_You're supposed to be a desert fox, Kah_," I chided, "_Why can't you keep hydrated_?"

She wagged her bushy tail, not answering me for obvious reasons. I sighed and took a sip of water myself. I didn't need much, for I felt better than I had in days. When I had been in Ahnoon's little desert camp, they had kept me in a stifling tent. It felt great to have the slight breeze in my fur, the sun on my face. I didn't know why Kah, who had lived in the desert all her life, was having problems while I, the city dweller, was in my element.

When Kah was finished eating (leaving some for me, of course), she shifted and held out her hand for the water bottle. After taking a couple of gulps, she gasped and rubbed her mouth. She sent me an apologetic look.

"_I'm sorry, Kare_," she mumbled, "_I'm just not used to coming out in the day. I always went hunting at night, before_."

I sighed, "_It's fine, Kah. I'll take care of you on the way there, but you have to guide us_." I looked at the carcass of the hare and heard my stomach rumble. Lunchtime.

"_Here, put the pack on me when I finish_," I pushed the bag toward her and shifted. Using my handy-dandy teeth, I tore up what was left of the hare and ate my fill. I indicated that I was finished, and Kah helped me slid the pack into place. I shook a bit to settle it and watched as Kah changed into an adorable, sandy gold Fennec fox. She yipped, and we set off again.

I set a swift pace that had us trotting along the sandy ground fairly quickly. Kah had to run to keep up with my longer legs. When I started hearing her loud panting, I sighed again and knelt down. With a jerk of my head, I told her to take a seat on the pack. She blinked at me and hopped up, curling up with her tail over her muzzle. She gave a sad yip, apologizing for being such a burden. I growled and started running. She had a hard time holding on at first, but settled in again. We probably looked quite a sight-a jackal with a backpack and a fox on its back. I chuckled to myself as I ran, feeling the sand between my toes. I dodged around rocky outcrops and the occasional bit of desert bush, my paws swift and sure. I could feel it in my soul-this is where I was meant to be.

I hadn't been paying attention to my surroundings as much as I'd thought. Kah gave a frantic, scared yip and sank her teeth into my ear. She jerked my head around to where a wolf was bounding towards me. I snarled soundlessly at him, recognizing one of Ahnoon's more dominant wolves. As soon as I had recognized him, I took off, my feet barely brushing the surface of the sandy ground. I was the wind itself, cutting across the burning sands and leaving a cloud of sand in my wake. The wolf, who, while used to the shifting feel of the sand beneath his paws, was not made for it. He couldn't get good traction, while I was faster on this shifting ground than on the firm dirt of Tennessee. I flipped up my tail at him as I pulled steadily ahead. I heard Kah's yip of laughter. She was probably sticking her tongue out at him. I laughed, my tongue hanging out the side of my mouth.

Then the second werewolf jumped in front of me.

If I hadn't had so much of my attention focused on the wolf behind me, I would've noticed him. As it was, I panicked and darted under his belly, forgetting that I had a pack and a fox on my back. When I came out on the wolf's other side, I felt lighter. The pack was still on, so I must've lost Kah. I turned and saw that the wolf had her in his jaws. He shook her like a dog shakes a toy-side to side, her pained cries piercing the air with every jerking motion. Seeing this girl-though she had the form of a fox at this moment-that I had come to think of as a sister being shaken around like no more than a rag doll caused me to snap.

I tore into the wolf's leg much as I had the hare. Hot blood splattered onto my face, flesh tore beneath my teeth. The wolf turned to face me, tossing Kah aside. She landed behind some rocks, so I hoped they would leave her alone and go after me. The first wolf had reached us by this time, but I ignored him and set about gutting the wolf that had hurt Kah. He didn't make it easy, but I had never needed anything to be easy. I ducked his heavily clawed paw as he swung it at me and caught his haunch right where his leg connected to his belly. I jerked my head downwards, separating hind leg from the wolf. He screamed, the loudest sound any of us had made. Wolves learn to fight silently so that they don't draw unwanted attention. I had always done the same, the few times I had needed to fight. The other wolf decided he didn't like his comrade being maimed, so he jumped in and tried to grab my neck with his jaws. The pack blocked most of this attack, and it probably helped that I managed to dodge it. I jumped towards the wolf that had staggered but not collapsed when I severed his leg. Leaping and rebounding off of his back, I landed on top of the other wolf's shoulders. Before he even had time to struggle, I dug my teeth into the base of his skull and jerked his head back. I heard a loud _crack!_ as his neck snapped. He dropped like a stone beneath me. I jumped clear of him and attacked the other wolf, which had yet to recover. His throat was easily torn, and he quickly joined his fellow in death. I lifted my bloody muzzle from his gaping throat wound and looked around for Kah. A haze of red still clouded my vision; I could still feel rage bubbling in my veins. That rage subsided as I heard a whimper. Kah dragged herself towards me.

With a worried whine, I went to her. She had a deep cut just behind her left front leg that still bled freely. I licked it worriedly. She needed medical help.

Oh, wait. That's me. I am the vet, aren't I?

I shook my head at my stupidity and struggled out of the pack. I shifted and dug around till I found the bandages and salves that I had talked Grypha into packing in case we were injured on our way there. I'd known they would come in handy. I cleaned Kah's wound and bandaged it, glad that the blood flow had slowed down. I was worried about moving her, but I wouldn't leave her here by herself, and we needed to get moving. We had to reach the people who were loyal to my father before more of Ahnoon's wolves found us.

I decided. I would carry Kah strapped to the pack and run like the wind. I couldn't stop, not if I wanted to reach the camp before something else happened. With that determination, I used my jeans to tie Kah to the pack and put it on, though it was a tight fit. I shifted with it on, the straps loosening until it fit comfortably. I settled it into place and started moving.

_-BREAK TIME IS A TIME OF JOYNESS-_

On the third day, I collapsed. I hadn't stopped, not for water, not for food, for the last two days. Kah was dying, I was on my way. I hadn't found the camp, hadn't found any help. With a broken heart, I lay in the unforgiving sands of the Sahara desert and cried without tears. I didn't even have enough water in me for that. I coughed, my throat as dry as the desert around me.

No. Just a few feet farther. I could make it that far.

I dragged myself to my paws and staggered a bit farther, over the next hill. I staggered and slid down the hill to the bottom, where I stopped and lay still. The wind stirred my fur and blew sand into my nose. I sneezed, getting more sand in my mouth. How could I have thought I was born for this place, this awful, horrible place? If I survived, I never wanted to see it again, not unless I had a semi-truck full of water and a suitcase full of medical equipment. I chuckled to myself. I'd also like some chocolate-crazy, I know, but was having a chocolate craving while I was dying.

I'd also like to see Aaron and my family again. Missy, Cheyenne, Mark-even Everett. I'd like to see Bran again and flaunt that my father was the most powerful werewolf in the world. I'd like to be an aunt to Tawny's kids.

Hell, I'd even like to be in Missy's wedding.

It was just as I was thinking this that I heard footsteps. I couldn't even lift my head, that was how weak I was. I rolled my eyes back as far as I could, but I couldn't see who or what it was. I heard a soft gasp.

"_Karissa_," a deep voice murmured, "_Dear one. What has happened_?"

Strange, but the voice that spoke so familiarly of me was one I didn't recognize. And...he was speaking in Egyptian.

He finally came into view. I did recognize him, I realized. It was the man from the night I escaped, the one who had protected me and kept the werewolf busy while I escaped. This time, his long hair hung loose and wavy around his face. His eyes, I now saw, were deep, deep brown. They gazed at me with a mixture of relief and worry. I struggled to get up, but he reached out a gentle hand to keep me down.

"_Wait_," he murmured, "Allow me to remove the bag..." he seemed to notice Kah for the first time, "_A Desert Dweller? She's injured_..." he untied her and cradled her gently in one arm as he removed the bag (he cut the straps with his knife) and got out the still-full water bottle. He used his foot to raise my head and put the bottle to my mouth. I drank thirstily, greedily. I choked a little, but it was so good. The water was so cool and..._wet_. I felt so much better after drinking it. I struggled to my paws and stood before him, legs trembling with weakness. I sniffed, taking in his scent, and gasped at what I smelled. His eyes darkened and he frowned, as if he knew what I smelled and was worried by it. His gaze searched mine as my mind tried to make sense of what my nose smelled and how my eyes contradicted it.

Keeper. The man smelled like Keeper-not as if he had been around Keeper, but as if he _was_ Keeper.

The world just keeps getting stranger.

**CrazyCross:** Soooo? What'd you think? Was it worth the wait?  
**Karissa:** ...I'm gonna kill you.  
**CrazyCross:** Oh, you think I'm scared? I have an evil cat that brings me pain EVERY SINGLE DAY. You aren't... hey, is that a switchblade? Where did you get that? Do you have a license? Those are illegal in our state!  
**Karissa:** Remember, folks, _**10 MORE REVIEWS**_! Now, you foolish little person, I'll deal with you... *drags author away*  
**CrazyCross:** HEEEEEEEEELLLLLPPPPP!


	6. Hey Guys! How Ya Been?

**CrazyCross:** Heya guys! CrazyCross here~ It's been a while :c I'm sorry to leave you guys with a cliffhanger for 2 years

**Karissa:** What are you talking about? You forgot about this story until today, when you happened to be looking at old stories you'd uploaded on fanfiction. You just read the reviews and felt bad.

**CrazyCross:** *glares at Kare* Why yes, that is true. But because of that, I'm actually considering writing a couple more chapters for this story! Reviving it and letting you guys get some closure. I actually did know where i was going with this story (i just stopped writing on it because i couldn't figure out how to write the next part). I just need to finish it.

**Karissa:** I hope i get a happy ending Dx you damn well better give me a happy ending, for all the crap you put me through in 5 short chapters.

**CrazyCross:** HOW MANY OF YOU GUYS ARE STILL ALIVE? How many are checking the updates? Let me know if you're still there and still want more chapters on this story. Even if there's just a few of you, i'll get my fingers ready for an intense workout and get to typing. i love you guys ;n; i'm sorry i left you hanging.


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